A: “Fifth column” is a term used to refer to a group of secret sympathizers or supporters of an enemy within defense lines or national borders, and especially such a group that engages in espionage or sabotage. The term first came into use in the mid-1930s in the context of the Spanish Civil War, although the exact source is uncertain.

“Fifth column” apparently first appeared in English in dispatches by William Carney, a correspondent for The New York Times reporting on the Civil War in Spain. On Oct. 16, 1936, Carney mentioned raids in Republican-held Madrid that “apparently were instigated by a recent broadcast over the Rebel radio station by General Emilio Mola. He stated he was counting on four columns of troops outside Madrid and another column of persons hiding within the city who would join the invaders as soon as they entered the capital.”

Carney was accurately reflecting the fact that Spanish “quinta columna,” or “fifth column,” was an epithet for subversive Nationalist (“rebel”) elements in the city. But subsequent literature on the war makes no mention of a radio broadcast by Mola, which Carney himself seems not to have heard, and Nationalist biographies of Mola do not attribute the phrase to him. In fact, the first documented use of “quinta columna” was on Oct. 2, 1936, in a newspaper article by the Communist leader Dolores Ibarruri, known in Spain as “La Pasionaria,” or “The Passionflower.” The phrase may actually have been a propaganda invention of the Republicans attributed to Mola in order to justify reprisals against the supposed Nationalist supporters in Madrid. In any event, “fifth column” soon became an international catchphrase for a conspiracy of traitors within one’s own camp.

Q Well, he did it again. On the Fourth of July my know-it-all cousin stumped me with a word I’d never heard before. I’m not even sure how to spell it – “vexillologist”? – E.C., Medina, Minn.

A: Don’t be vexed by “vexillologist.” Your cousin undoubtedly used your Independence Day celebration to bring it up because it is the word for a person who studies flags. Vexillologists undertake scholarly investigations of flags, producing papers with titles such as “A Review of the Changing Proportions of Rectangular Flags Since Medieval Times, and Some Suggestions for the Future.” Whitney Smith, a pioneer in the field, is credited with having coined the term “vexillology” in the late 1950s for the study of flags. The word comes from “vexillum,” the Latin term for a square flag or banner used by the ancient Roman cavalry.

This column was prepared by the editors of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition. Readers may send questions to Merriam-Webster’s Wordwatch, P.O. Box 281, 47 Federal St., Springfield, MA 01102.

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