Column vs. Post — What's the Difference?
By Maham Liaqat & Urooj Arif — Updated on March 11, 2024
A column is a structural element that transmits the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below, while a post is a more general term that can refer to any vertical support, often used in lighter constructions.
Difference Between Column and Post
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Columns are integral to the design and structure of buildings and are primarily used for supporting the weight of the structure above, including floors, roofs, and other columns, and transmitting that weight to the foundation below. Posts, on the other hand, are vertical supports that can be used in a variety of contexts, from architectural to non-architectural applications. While they can also bear loads, posts are generally associated with lighter construction tasks, such as supporting decks, fences, or signage.
The key difference between columns and posts lies in their application and structural importance. Columns are often more permanent and integrated into the building's structure, designed with a focus on aesthetics and structural integrity. Posts, while also providing support, are more versatile and can be used in temporary structures, smaller buildings, or non-structural applications like utility poles.
In terms of design, columns are usually more elaborate, featuring classical elements such as bases, shafts, and capitals, and can be found in historical and modern architecture, adding both support and beauty to buildings. Posts tend to be simpler in design, focusing more on functionality than aesthetics, and are often chosen for their practicality and ease of installation.
Both columns and posts play crucial roles in construction, but their specific uses, design considerations, and material choices are tailored to their respective purposes – structural support and aesthetic contribution in the case of columns, and versatile, functional support in the case of posts.
Comparison Chart
Purpose
Supports the weight of structures above, transmitting it to the foundation
Provides vertical support in a variety of constructions
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Application
Integral to building structure, often in more significant architectural projects
Used in lighter constructions, such as decks, fences, and temporary structures
Design
Often elaborate with classical elements like bases, shafts, and capitals
Generally simpler, focusing on functionality
Material
Commonly made of steel, concrete, or stone for strength and stability
Can be made of wood, metal, composite materials, depending on the need
Structural Importance
Essential for structural integrity, designed to withstand axial loads
Provides support but may not be integral to the building's structural stability
Compare with Definitions
Column
A column is a structural element designed to bear loads and transmit them to the foundation.
The ancient Greek temples are renowned for their ornate columns.
Post
A post is a vertical support that can be used in a wide range of structures.
Wooden posts were used to support the garden pergola.
Column
In classical architecture, columns follow specific orders like Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.
The courthouse featured Corinthian columns at its façade.
Post
Posts are versatile and can be found in both architectural and non-architectural settings.
Signage posts along the highway guide drivers at night.
Column
Columns are key components in the stability of buildings and structures.
The addition of steel columns increased the skyscraper's structural integrity.
Post
The choice of material for posts is guided by the specific requirements of the project.
Composite posts were selected for the deck for their resistance to rot.
Column
They often feature decorative elements, contributing to the architectural aesthetics.
The building's entrance was adorned with marble columns.
Post
They can be temporary or permanent, depending on their intended use.
The event used temporary metal posts to support the banners.
Column
Columns are made from materials chosen for strength and durability.
Concrete columns are a staple in modern commercial construction.
Post
Posts often prioritize functionality over aesthetic appeal.
The fence posts were chosen for their durability against the elements.
Column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member.
Post
A long, sturdy piece of timber or metal set upright in the ground and used as a support or marker
Follow the blue posts until the track meets a road
Column
A vertical structure usually consisting of a base, a cylindrical shaft, and a capital, used as a support or standing alone as a monument.
Post
A piece of writing, image, or other item of content published online, typically on a blog or social media website or application
In a recent post, he cautioned investors to be wary of these predictions
Column
Any slender vertical support, as of steel or reinforced concrete.
Post
The official service or system that delivers letters and parcels
The tickets are in the post
Winners will be notified by post
Column
Something resembling an architectural column in form or function
A column of mercury in a thermometer.
Post
Each of a series of couriers who carried mail on horseback between fixed stages.
Column
One of two or more vertical sections of text lying side by side in a document and separated by a rule or a blank space.
Post
A position of paid employment; a job
He resigned from the post of Foreign Minister
A teaching post
Column
An arrangement of numbers in a single vertical line.
Post
A place where someone is on duty or where a particular activity is carried out
A customs post
A shift worker asleep at his post
Column
A feature article that appears regularly in a publication, such as a newspaper.
Post
The status or rank of full-grade captain in the Royal Navy
Captain Miller was made post in 1796
Column
A formation, as of troops or vehicles, in which all elements follow one behind the other.
Post
Display (a notice) in a public place
A curt notice had been posted on the door
Column
(Botany)A columnlike structure, especially one formed by the union of a stamen and the style in an orchid flower, or one formed by the united staminal filaments in flowers such as those of the hibiscus or mallow.
Post
Announce or publish (something, especially a financial result)
The company posted a £460,000 loss
Column
(Anatomy)Any of various tubular or pillarlike supporting structures in the body, each generally having a single tissue origin and function
The vertebral column.
Post
(of a player or team) achieve or record (a particular score or result)
Smith and Lamb posted a century partnership
Column
(architecture) A solid upright structure designed usually to support a larger structure above it, such as a roof or horizontal beam, but sometimes for decoration.
Post
Send (a letter or parcel) via the postal system
Post off your order form today
I've just been to post a letter
Column
A vertical line of entries in a table, usually read from top to bottom.
Post
(in bookkeeping) enter (an item) in a ledger
Post the transaction in the second column
Initial records kept in day books are periodically posted to accounts
Column
A body of troops or army vehicles, usually strung out along a road.
Post
Travel with relays of horses
We posted in an open carriage
Column
A body of text meant to be read line by line, especially in printed material that has multiple adjacent such on a single page.
It was too hard to read the text across the whole page, so I split it into two columns.
Post
Send (someone) to a place to take up an appointment
He was posted to Washington as military attaché
Column
A unit of width, especially of advertisements, in a periodical, equivalent to the width of a usual column of text.
Each column inch costs $300 a week; this ad is four columns by three inches, so will run $3600 a week.
Post
With haste
Come now, come post
Column
(by extension) A recurring feature in a periodical, especially an opinion piece, especially by a single author or small rotating group of authors, or on a single theme.
His initial foray into print media was as the author of a weekly column in his elementary-school newspaper.
Post
Subsequent to; after
American poetry post the 1950s hasn't had the same impact
Column
Something having similar vertical form or structure to the things mentioned above, such as a spinal column.
Post
A long piece of wood or other material set upright into the ground to serve as a marker or support.
Column
(botany) The gynostemium
Post
A support for a beam in the framework of a building.
Column
(chemistry) An object used to separate the different components of a liquid or to purify chemical compounds.
Post
A terminal of a battery.
Column
A kind of pillar; a cylindrical or polygonal support for a roof, ceiling, statue, etc., somewhat ornamented, and usually composed of base, shaft, and capital. See Order.
Post
(Sports) A goal post.
Column
Anything resembling, in form or position, a column in architecture; an upright body or mass; a shaft or obelisk; as, a column of air, of water, of mercury, etc.; the Column Vendôme; the spinal column.
Post
The starting point at a racetrack.
Column
A body of troops formed in ranks, one behind the other; - contradistinguished from line. Compare Ploy, and Deploy.
Post
The slender barlike part of a stud earring that passes through the ear and is secured at the back with a small cap or clip.
Column
A number of ships so arranged as to follow one another in single or double file or in squadrons; - in distinction from "line", where they are side by side.
Post
An electronic message sent to and displayed on an online forum
Ignored several inflammatory posts.
Column
A perpendicular set of lines, not extending across the page, and separated from other matter by a rule or blank space; as, a column in a newspaper.
Post
A military base.
Column
A perpendicular line of figures.
Post
The grounds and buildings of a military base.
Column
The body formed by the union of the stamens in the Mallow family, or of the stamens and pistil in the orchids.
Post
A local organization of military veterans.
Column
One of a series of articles written in a periodical, usually under the same title and at regular intervals; it may be written and signed by one or more authors, or may appear pseudonymously or anonymously, as an editorial column.
Post
Either of two bugle calls in the British Army, sounded in the evening as a signal to retire to quarters.
Column
A line of (usually military) units following one after another
Post
An assigned position or station, as of a guard or sentry.
Column
A vertical glass tube used in column chromatography; a mixture is poured in the top and washed through a stationary substance where components of the mixture are adsorbed selectively to form colored bands
Post
(Basketball) A position usually taken by the center close to the basket or below the foul line, serving as the focus of the team's offense.
Column
A linear array of numbers one above another
Post
A position of employment, especially an appointed public office.
Column
Anything tall and thin approximating the shape of a column or tower;
The test tube held a column of white powder
A tower of dust rose above the horizon
A thin pillar of smoke betrayed their campsite
Post
A place to which someone is assigned for duty.
Column
An article giving opinions or perspectives
Post
A trading post.
Column
A vertical structure standing alone and not supporting anything (as a monument or a column of air)
Post
A postal system.
Column
(architeture) a tall cylindrical vertical upright and used to support a structure
Post
A post office.
Post
A delivery or amount of mail
Waiting for the morning's post to arrive.
Post
One of a series of relay stations along a fixed route, furnishing fresh riders and horses for the delivery of mail on horseback.
Post
A rider on such a mail route; a courier.
Post
To display (an announcement) in a place of public view.
Post
To cover (a wall, for example) with posters.
Post
To announce by or as if by posters
Post banns.
Post
(Computers) To make (an electronic message) available by sending it to an online forum
Posted a response to a question about car engines.
Post
To put up signs on (property) warning against trespassing.
Post
To denounce publicly
Post a man as a thief.
Post
To publish (a name) on a list.
Post
(Games) To gain (points or a point) in a game or contest; score.
Post
To assign to a specific position or station
Post a sentry at the gate.
Post
To appoint to a naval or military command.
Post
To put forward; present
Post bail.
Post
Chiefly British To mail (a letter or package).
Post
(Archaic) To send by mail in a system of relays on horseback.
Post
To inform of the latest news
Keep us posted.
Post
To transfer (an item) to a ledger in bookkeeping.
Post
To make the necessary entries in (a ledger).
Post
(Computers) To enter (a unit of information) on a record or into a section of storage.
Post
To travel in stages or relays.
Post
To travel with speed or in haste.
Post
To bob up and down in the saddle in rhythm with a horse's trotting gait.
Post
With great speed; rapidly.
Post
By post horse.
Post
A long dowel or plank protruding from the ground; a fencepost; a lightpost.
Ram a post into the ground
Post
(construction) A stud; a two-by-four.
Post
A pole in a battery.
Post
(dentistry) A long, narrow piece inserted into a root canal to provide retention for a crown.
Post
A prolonged final melody note, among moving harmony notes.
Post
A printing paper size measuring 19.25 inches x 15.5 inches.
Post
(sports) A goalpost.
Post
A location on a basketball court near the basket.
Post
(obsolete) The doorpost of a victualler's shop or inn, on which were chalked the scores of customers; hence, a score; a debt.
Post
The vertical part of a crochet stitch.
Post
(obsolete) Each of a series of men stationed at specific places along a postroad, with responsibility for relaying letters and dispatches of the monarch (and later others) along the route.
Post
(dated) A station, or one of a series of stations, established for the refreshment and accommodation of travellers on some recognized route.
A stage or railway post
Post
A military base; the place at which a soldier or a body of troops is stationed; also, the troops at such a station.
Post
Someone who travels express along a set route carrying letters and dispatches; a courier.
Post
An organisation for delivering letters, parcels etc., or the service provided by such an organisation.
Sent via post; parcel post
Post
A single delivery of letters; the letters or deliveries that make up a single batch delivered to one person or one address.
Post
A message posted in an electronic or Internet forum, or on a blog, etc.
Post
(American football) A moderate to deep passing route in which a receiver runs 10-20 yards from the line of scrimmage straight down the field, then cuts toward the middle of the field (towards the facing goalposts) at a 45-degree angle.
Two of the receivers ran post patterns.
Post
(obsolete) Haste or speed, like that of a messenger or mail carrier.
Post
(obsolete) One who has charge of a station, especially a postal station.
Post
An assigned station; a guard post.
Post
An appointed position in an organization, job.
Post
Post-production.
We'll fix it in post
Post
A post mortem investigation of body's cause of death.
Post
(transitive) To hang (a notice) in a conspicuous manner for general review.
Post no bills.
Post
To hold up to public blame or reproach; to advertise opprobriously; to denounce by public proclamation.
To post someone for cowardice
Post
(accounting) To carry (an account) from the journal to the ledger.
Post
To inform; to give the news to; to make acquainted with the details of a subject; often with up.
Post
To pay down (the stake).
Post
To pay (a blind).
Since Jim was new to the game, he had to post $4 in order to receive a hand.
Post
To travel with relays of horses; to travel by post horses, originally as a courier.
Post
To travel quickly; to hurry.
Post
To send (an item of mail etc.) through the postal service.
Mail items posted before 7.00pm within the Central Business District and before 5.00pm outside the Central Business District will be delivered the next working day.
Post
(horse-riding) To rise and sink in the saddle, in accordance with the motion of the horse, especially in trotting.
Post
(Internet) To publish (a message) to a newsgroup, forum, blog, etc.
I couldn't figure it out, so I posted a question on the mailing list.
Post
To enter (a name) on a list, as for service, promotion, etc.
Post
To assign to a station; to set; to place.
Post a sentinel in front of the door.
Post
With the post, on post-horses; by a relay of horses (changing at every staging-post); hence, express, with speed, quickly.
Post
Sent via the postal service.
Post
After; especially after a significant event that has long-term ramifications.
Post
Hired to do what is wrong; suborned.
Post
The doorpost of a victualer's shop or inn, on which were chalked the scores of customers; hence, a score; a debt.
When God sends coinI will discharge your post.
Post
The place at which anything is stopped, placed, or fixed; a station.
Post
A messenger who goes from station; an express; especially, one who is employed by the government to carry letters and parcels regularly from one place to another; a letter carrier; a postman.
In certain places there be always fresh posts, to carry that further which is brought unto them by the other.
I fear my Julia would not deign my lines,Receiving them from such a worthless post.
Post
An established conveyance for letters from one place or station to another; especially, the governmental system in any country for carrying and distributing letters and parcels; the post office; the mail; hence, the carriage by which the mail is transported.
I send you the fair copy of the poem on dullness, which I should not care to hazard by the common post.
Post
Haste or speed, like that of a messenger or mail carrier.
Post
One who has charge of a station, especially of a postal station.
He held office of postmaster, or, as it was then called, post, for several years.
Post
A station, office, or position of service, trust, or emolument; as, the post of duty; the post of danger.
The post of honor is a private station.
Post
A size of printing and writing paper. See the Table under Paper.
Post
To attach to a post, a wall, or other usual place of affixing public notices; to placard; as, to post a notice; to post playbills.
Post
To hold up to public blame or reproach; to advertise opprobriously; to denounce by public proclamation; as, to post one for cowardice.
On pain of being posted to your sorrowFail not, at four, to meet me.
Post
To enter (a name) on a list, as for service, promotion, or the like.
Post
To assign to a station; to set; to place; as, to post a sentinel.
Post
To carry, as an account, from the journal to the ledger; as, to post an account; to transfer, as accounts, to the ledger.
You have not posted your books these ten years.
Post
To place in the care of the post; to mail; as, to post a letter.
Post
To inform; to give the news to; to make (one) acquainted with the details of a subject; - often with up.
Thoroughly posted up in the politics and literature of the day.
Post
To travel with post horses; figuratively, to travel in haste.
And post o'er land and ocean without rest.
Post
To rise and sink in the saddle, in accordance with the motion of the horse, esp. in trotting.
Post
With post horses; hence, in haste; as, to travel post.
Post
The position where someone (as a guard or sentry) stands or is assigned to stand;
A soldier manned the entrance post
A sentry station
Post
Military installation at which a body of troops is stationed;
This military post provides an important source of income for the town nearby
There is an officer's club on the post
Post
A job in an organization;
He occupied a post in the treasury
Post
An upright consisting of a piece of timber or metal fixed firmly in an upright position;
He set a row of posts in the ground and strung barbwire between them
Post
United States aviator who in 1933 made the first solo flight around the world (1899-1935)
Post
United States female author who wrote a book and a syndicated newspaper column on etiquette (1872-1960)
Post
United States manufacturer of breakfast cereals and Postum (1854-1914)
Post
Any particular collection of letters or packages that is delivered;
Your mail is on the table
Is there any post for me?
She was opening her post
Post
A pole or stake set up to mark something (as the start or end of a race track);
A pair of posts marked the goal
The corner of the lot was indicated by a stake
Post
The system whereby messages are transmitted via the post office;
The mail handles billions of items every day
He works for the United States mail service
In England they call mail `the post'
Post
The delivery and collection of letters and packages;
It came by the first post
If you hurry you'll catch the post
Post
Affix in a public place or for public notice;
Post a warning
Post
Publicize with, or as if with, a poster;
I'll post the news on the bulletin board
Post
Assign to a post; put into a post;
The newspaper posted him in Timbuktu
Post
Assign to a station
Post
Display, as of records in sports games
Post
Enter on a public list
Post
Transfer (entries) from one account book to another
Post
Ride Western style and bob up and down in the saddle in in rhythm with a horse's trotting gait
Post
Mark with a stake;
Stake out the path
Post
Put up;
Post a sign
Post a warning at the dump
Post
Cause to be directed or transmitted to another place;
Send me your latest results
I'll mail you the paper when it's written
Post
Mark or expose as infamous;
She was branded a loose woman
Common Curiosities
How is the material for columns or posts chosen?
The choice of material for columns or posts depends on factors like the required load-bearing capacity, environmental conditions, aesthetic considerations, and cost.
What defines a column in construction?
A column is defined by its role in supporting the weight of the structure above and transmitting that weight down to the foundation, often characterized by its robust construction and design.
Can a post be used for structural support?
Yes, posts can provide structural support, especially in lighter constructions, but they may not be designed to handle the same load as structural columns.
How do columns contribute to a building's aesthetics?
Columns can significantly contribute to a building's aesthetics through their design, which may include intricate carvings, classical elements, and the choice of materials, adding elegance and style to the structure.
Are all vertical supports considered columns?
Not all vertical supports are considered columns. The term "column" specifically refers to structural elements designed to bear axial loads, whereas "post" is a more general term that can refer to any vertical support.
Can the design of a column affect its structural performance?
Yes, the design of a column, including its shape, size, and material, can significantly affect its structural performance, especially its ability to withstand loads and stresses.
What is the historical significance of columns in architecture?
Columns have a rich historical significance in architecture, symbolizing strength, stability, and beauty in various cultures, and are prominent features in classical, Renaissance, and modern architectural styles.
What are the maintenance considerations for columns and posts?
Maintenance considerations for columns and posts include regular inspections for signs of wear, damage, or corrosion, and timely repairs or replacements to ensure continued stability and performance.
What role do posts play in non-structural applications?
In non-structural applications, posts provide support for things like fences, signs, or decorations, focusing on functionality and sometimes temporary placement.
How do environmental factors influence the choice between columns and posts?
Environmental factors like climate, soil conditions, and exposure to elements can influence the choice between columns and posts, guiding decisions on materials and design to ensure longevity and durability.
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Written by
Maham Liaqat
Co-written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
