- colon (n.1)
- punctuation mark, 1540s, from Latin colon "part of a poem," from Greek kolon (with a long initial -o-) "part of a verse," literally "limb," from PIE root *(s)kel- "to bend, crooked" (see scalene). Meaning evolved from "independent clause" to punctuation mark that sets it off.
- colon (n.2)
- "large intestine," late 14c., from Greek kolon (with a short initial -o-) "large intestine, food, meat," of unknown origin.