in Music, a general term for embellishments, such as trills, diminutions, &c. &c.

COLOSSÆ, a once large and important city of Phrygia Major, on the Lycus, a branch of the Maeander. The notices of Colossae in ancient history are few and brief. Xerxes passed through it on his way to Greece B.C. 481; and at the close of that same century it was visited by Cyrus the younger. It is described by Xenophon in the "Anabasis" as being at this period a large and flourishing city. Like Laodicea, and many other cities in that part of Phrygia, Colossae carried on a large trade in wool, and derived a large revenue from the skill of its inhabitants in dyeing that article. After the time of Cyrus, the city seems to have gradually decayed, till in the middle ages it disappeared altogether. Near its ruins there sprang up another town called Chonae, the site of which is still visible under the name of Khonos. Excavations, which have been recently made in the neighbourhood of this place, have brought to light the ruins of a large city, which is believed, with good reason, to be Colossae.

One of the epistles of the apostle Paul is addressed to the inhabitants of this city, in which one of the earliest of the Christian churches in Asia was planted.