A column is an upright pillar, typically cylindrical and made of wood, stone or concrete, supporting an entablature, arch, or other structure or standing alone as a monument. Most interior columns are decorative and not structural.

Other common names used for columns are pillar, post, support, upright, baluster, pier, pile, pilaster, stanchion; obelisk or monolith.

Columns fit into several design categories ranging from Doric column, Ionic column, Corinthian column and Tuscan column “arches supported by massive columns