See fifth column in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "From a 1936 radio address by Spanish Nationalist general Emilio Mola, in which he spoke of four of his army columns moving on Madrid and a fifth column (quinta columna) consisting of his militant supporters within the capital, intent on undermining the Republican government from within.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "fifth columns",
"tags": [
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]
},
{
"form": "5th column",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "fifth column (plural fifth columns)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "61 39",
"kind": "other",
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{
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"_dis": "74 26",
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"_dis": "67 33",
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{
"_dis": "70 30",
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{
"_dis": "74 26",
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{
"_dis": "71 29",
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"name": "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
"parents": [],
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{
"_dis": "69 31",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Catalan translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "68 32",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Czech translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "70 30",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
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{
"_dis": "71 29",
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"name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
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{
"_dis": "68 32",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with French translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "63 37",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Georgian translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "70 30",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with German translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "65 35",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Greek translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
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{
"_dis": "73 27",
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"name": "Terms with Japanese translations",
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{
"_dis": "70 30",
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"_dis": "69 31",
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"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
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{
"_dis": "65 35",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "70 30",
"kind": "other",
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"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
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{
"_dis": "71 29",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Polish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "69 31",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "73 27",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Russian translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "77 23",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "70 30",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "71 29",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Ukrainian translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "45 55",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Five",
"orig": "en:Five",
"parents": [
"Numbers",
"All topics",
"Terms by semantic function",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
220,
232
]
],
"ref": "1939 March 29, “Madrid gives itself up to Franco”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:",
"text": "The rebels, who in November 1936 had fought to enter and failed, walked in yesterday as troops of the generally recognised Spanish Government, and not a shot was fired at them. The supporters of Franco in the city, the “fifth column” he once spoke of, had been waiting for this moment for more than two years.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
41,
53
]
],
"ref": "2020 January 2, Conrad Landin, “Strife and strikes in post-war Britain”, in Rail, page 52:",
"text": "Lloyd George's belief in a revolutionary fifth column [the term hadn't been coined then] driving the strike was replicated on Fleet Street. On October 1 [1919] The Times thundered: \"The attempt of the strike leaders to subvert Constitutional government in this country and to starve the nation into acquiescence in their revolutionary designs will be defeated, as other onslaughts have been defeated, by the firmness of the people in defence of its liberties.\"",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A group of people which clandestinely undermines a larger group, such as a nation, to which it is expected to be loyal."
],
"id": "en-fifth_column-en-noun-Og8NPHJL",
"links": [
[
"clandestine",
"clandestine"
],
[
"undermine",
"undermine"
],
[
"nation",
"nation"
],
[
"loyal",
"loyal"
]
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "ar",
"lang": "Arabic",
"roman": "aṭ-ṭābūru l-ḵāmis",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "الطَّابُورُ الخَامِس"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "hy",
"lang": "Armenian",
"roman": "hingerord šarasyun",
"sense": "group of people",
"word": "հինգերորդ շարասյուն"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "be",
"lang": "Belarusian",
"roman": "pjátaja kalóna",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "пя́тая кало́на"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "péta kolóna",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "пе́та коло́на"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "cinquena columna"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "quinta columna"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "dì wǔ zòngduì",
"sense": "group of people",
"word": "第五縱隊 /第五纵队"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "pátá kolona"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "vnitřní nepřítel"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine",
"masculine"
],
"word": "vijfde colonne"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "group of people",
"word": "viides kolonna"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "cinquième colonne"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "ka",
"lang": "Georgian",
"roman": "mexute ḳolona",
"sense": "group of people",
"word": "მეხუთე კოლონა"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "Fünfte Kolonne"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"roman": "pémpti fálanga",
"sense": "group of people",
"word": "πέμπτη φάλαγγα"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"alt": "だいごれつ",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "daigoretsu",
"sense": "group of people",
"word": "第五列"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"alt": "だいごれつ",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "daigoretsu",
"sense": "group of people",
"word": "第５列"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "kk",
"lang": "Kazakh",
"roman": "besınşı lek",
"sense": "group of people",
"word": "бесінші лек"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "mk",
"lang": "Macedonian",
"roman": "petta kolona",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "петта колона"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "fa",
"lang": "Persian",
"roman": "sotun panjom",
"sense": "group of people",
"word": "ستون پنجم"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "piąta kolumna"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "quinta coluna"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "pjátaja kolónna",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "пя́тая коло́нна"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "quinta columna"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "femtekolonn"
},
{
"_dis1": "100 0",
"code": "uk",
"lang": "Ukrainian",
"roman": "pʺjáta kolóna",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "п'я́та коло́на"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "45 55",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Five",
"orig": "en:Five",
"parents": [
"Numbers",
"All topics",
"Terms by semantic function",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"derived": [
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"word": "fifth columnism"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"word": "fifth columnist"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see fifth, column."
],
"id": "en-fifth_column-en-noun-iPLnhBtn",
"links": [
[
"fifth",
"fifth#English"
],
[
"column",
"column#English"
]
],
"related": [
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"word": "agent provocateur"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 97",
"word": "Trojan horse"
}
]
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Dr. Seuss",
"Emilio Mola",
"fifth column"
],
"word": "fifth column"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English terms calqued from Spanish",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Terms with Arabic translations",
"Terms with Armenian translations",
"Terms with Belarusian translations",
"Terms with Bulgarian translations",
"Terms with Catalan translations",
"Terms with Czech translations",
"Terms with Dutch translations",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with Georgian translations",
"Terms with German translations",
"Terms with Greek translations",
"Terms with Japanese translations",
"Terms with Kazakh translations",
"Terms with Macedonian translations",
"Terms with Mandarin translations",
"Terms with Persian translations",
"Terms with Polish translations",
"Terms with Portuguese translations",
"Terms with Russian translations",
"Terms with Spanish translations",
"Terms with Swedish translations",
"Terms with Ukrainian translations",
"en:Five"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "fifth columnism"
},
{
"word": "fifth columnist"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From a 1936 radio address by Spanish Nationalist general Emilio Mola, in which he spoke of four of his army columns moving on Madrid and a fifth column (quinta columna) consisting of his militant supporters within the capital, intent on undermining the Republican government from within.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "fifth columns",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "5th column",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "fifth column (plural fifth columns)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"word": "agent provocateur"
},
{
"word": "Trojan horse"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
220,
232
]
],
"ref": "1939 March 29, “Madrid gives itself up to Franco”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:",
"text": "The rebels, who in November 1936 had fought to enter and failed, walked in yesterday as troops of the generally recognised Spanish Government, and not a shot was fired at them. The supporters of Franco in the city, the “fifth column” he once spoke of, had been waiting for this moment for more than two years.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"bold_text_offsets": [
[
41,
53
]
],
"ref": "2020 January 2, Conrad Landin, “Strife and strikes in post-war Britain”, in Rail, page 52:",
"text": "Lloyd George's belief in a revolutionary fifth column [the term hadn't been coined then] driving the strike was replicated on Fleet Street. On October 1 [1919] The Times thundered: \"The attempt of the strike leaders to subvert Constitutional government in this country and to starve the nation into acquiescence in their revolutionary designs will be defeated, as other onslaughts have been defeated, by the firmness of the people in defence of its liberties.\"",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A group of people which clandestinely undermines a larger group, such as a nation, to which it is expected to be loyal."
],
"links": [
[
"clandestine",
"clandestine"
],
[
"undermine",
"undermine"
],
[
"nation",
"nation"
],
[
"loyal",
"loyal"
]
]
},
{
"glosses": [
"Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see fifth, column."
],
"links": [
[
"fifth",
"fifth#English"
],
[
"column",
"column#English"
]
]
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "ar",
"lang": "Arabic",
"roman": "aṭ-ṭābūru l-ḵāmis",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "الطَّابُورُ الخَامِس"
},
{
"code": "hy",
"lang": "Armenian",
"roman": "hingerord šarasyun",
"sense": "group of people",
"word": "հինգերորդ շարասյուն"
},
{
"code": "be",
"lang": "Belarusian",
"roman": "pjátaja kalóna",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "пя́тая кало́на"
},
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "péta kolóna",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "пе́та коло́на"
},
{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "cinquena columna"
},
{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "quinta columna"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "dì wǔ zòngduì",
"sense": "group of people",
"word": "第五縱隊 /第五纵队"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "pátá kolona"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "vnitřní nepřítel"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine",
"masculine"
],
"word": "vijfde colonne"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "group of people",
"word": "viides kolonna"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "cinquième colonne"
},
{
"code": "ka",
"lang": "Georgian",
"roman": "mexute ḳolona",
"sense": "group of people",
"word": "მეხუთე კოლონა"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "Fünfte Kolonne"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"roman": "pémpti fálanga",
"sense": "group of people",
"word": "πέμπτη φάλαγγα"
},
{
"alt": "だいごれつ",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "daigoretsu",
"sense": "group of people",
"word": "第五列"
},
{
"alt": "だいごれつ",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "daigoretsu",
"sense": "group of people",
"word": "第５列"
},
{
"code": "kk",
"lang": "Kazakh",
"roman": "besınşı lek",
"sense": "group of people",
"word": "бесінші лек"
},
{
"code": "mk",
"lang": "Macedonian",
"roman": "petta kolona",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "петта колона"
},
{
"code": "fa",
"lang": "Persian",
"roman": "sotun panjom",
"sense": "group of people",
"word": "ستون پنجم"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "piąta kolumna"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "quinta coluna"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "pjátaja kolónna",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "пя́тая коло́нна"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "quinta columna"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "femtekolonn"
},
{
"code": "uk",
"lang": "Ukrainian",
"roman": "pʺjáta kolóna",
"sense": "group of people",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "п'я́та коло́на"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Dr. Seuss",
"Emilio Mola",
"fifth column"
],
"word": "fifth column"
}
Download raw JSONL data for fifth column meaning in English (6.7kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-04-24 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-04-20 using wiktextract (813e02a and ea19a0a). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.