colonial

American  

[kuh-loh-nee-uhl] / kəˈloʊ ni əl /

adjective

1. of, concerning, or pertaining to a colony or colonies.

   the colonial policies of France.

2. of, concerning, or pertaining to colonialism; colonialistic.

3. (often initial capital letter) pertaining to the 13 British colonies that became the United States of America, or to their period.

4. Ecology. forming a colony.

5. (initial capital letter)

   1. noting or pertaining to the styles of architecture, ornament, and furnishings of the British colonies in America in the 17th and 18th centuries, mainly adapted to local materials and demands from prevailing English styles.

   2. noting or pertaining to various imitations of the work of American colonial artisans.

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noun

• colonials
  plural

1. an inhabitant of a colony.

2. a house in or imitative of the Colonial style.

colonial British  

/ kəˈləʊnɪəl /

adjective

1. of, characteristic of, relating to, possessing, or inhabiting a colony or colonies

2. (often capital) characteristic of or relating to the 13 British colonies that became the United States of America (1776)

3. (often capital) of or relating to the colonies of the British Empire

4. denoting, relating to, or having the style of Neoclassical architecture used in the British colonies in America in the 17th and 18th centuries

5. of or relating to the period of Australian history before Federation (1901)

6. (of organisms such as corals and bryozoans) existing as a colony of polyps

7. (of animals and plants) having become established in a community in a new environment

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noun

1. a native of a colony

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• noncolonial
  adjective
• procolonial
  adjective
• semicolonial
  adjective
• uncolonial
  adjective
• colonially
  adverb
• noncolonially
  adverb
• semicolonially
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• colonials
  plural

Etymology

Origin of colonial

An Americanism dating back to 1770–80; colony + -al ¹

Explanation

The colonial period of United States history occurred before 1776, when America was still 13 colonies under British rule. You can use the word colonial to describe an inhabitant of a colony ruled by another country, but you wouldn’t call a painter living in an artists' colony a colonial. On the other hand, ants, which live in ant colonies, are colonial insects. British colonial is a style of furniture the British favored for their houses and tents in India or on safari in Africa — when India and parts of Africa were British colonies.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

colonial colonials

"We are very deferential to authority because we are colonial children," she said.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

The two of them live on-site in what looks like a family home straight out of a 1990s Disney film, a white colonial home with blue shutters.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

During colonial expansion, European breeds spread across much of the world and replaced numerous older lineages.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026

Her account can be seen as a response to one colonial secretary of Ceylon, who in 1903 believed scientific management would revolutionize the collection of pearls.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

Behind him, house after gorgeous colonial house passed in rapid-fire succession, their colors winking at us through her window.

From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken

Many Americans in this 250th year of independence will look back proudly on those colonials who rebelled against British taxation by dumping tea in Boston Harbor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026

Stately, white colonials are on one block, while modest Spanish revivals sit on the next.

From Salon ● Apr. 11, 2025

Developers opened up this part of Arlington in the 1950s, building ranches and colonials, working from the same three or four floor plans across a dozen square miles.

From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2025

The term is also historically inaccurate, he said, because the first U.S. president and his contemporaries would not have identified as colonials.

From New York Times ● Mar. 26, 2023

Fortunately there were all sorts and types of colonials.

From "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie