colon

colon (n.1)

"punctuation mark consisting of two dots, one above the other, used to mark grammatical discontinuity less than that indicated by a period," 1540s, from Latin colon "part of a verse or poem," from Greek kōlon "part of a verse," literally "limb, member" (especially the leg, but also of a tree limb), also, figuratively, "a clause of a sentence," a word of uncertain etymology [词源].

The meaning evolved in modern languages from "independent clause" to the punctuation mark that sets it off. In ancient grammar a colon was one of the larger divisions of a sentence.

A semi-colon is the punctuation mark ; which is used in writing to separate different parts of a sentence or list or to indicate a pause.

colon (n.2)

"large intestine," late 14c., from Latin colon, Latinized form of Greek kolon (with a short initial -o-) "large intestine," which is of unknown origin.

The large intestine, also known as the large bowel, is the last part of the gastrointestinal [relating to the stomach and intestines] tract and of the digestive system in vertebrates [a creature that has a backbone/spine]. Water is absorbed here and the remaining waste material is stored as feces before being removed by defecation. Faeces is the solid waste substance that people and animals get rid of from their body by passing it through the anus.

The colon is the largest portion of the large intestine, so many mentions of the large intestine and colon overlap in meaning whenever precision is not the focus. Most sources define the large intestine as the combination of the cecum, colon, rectum, and anal canal. 大多数资料将大肠定义为盲肠、结肠、直肠和肛管的组合。Some other sources exclude the anal canal.

六级/考研单词: colon, verse, poet, literal, limb, uncertain, evolve, bowel, tract, portion, overlap, canal