Origin: Greek suffix -ist
Columnist has 2 different meanings across 1 category:
a journalist who writes editorials
"The opinionated columnist wrote a scathing editorial about the city's new traffic laws."
A regular writer of a column, such as in a magazine or newspaper
"The famous journalist resigned from her position as a columnist after years of writing opinion pieces for the daily paper."
In plain English: A columnist is someone who writes regular opinion pieces for newspapers, magazines, or websites on specific topics.
"The famous sports columnist wrote an opinionated piece about the team's recent losses."
Usage: A columnist is an author who regularly writes opinionated articles on specific topics for newspapers or magazines. This role differs from a general reporter because the piece reflects the writer's personal views rather than just presenting neutral facts.
The word columnist combines the English words column and -ist to describe a writer who contributes articles to that specific section of a newspaper. The term for "column" itself traces back through Latin and Greek to the ancient Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to turn."