Jump To:

• colony
  colony

  noun

  a country or territory claimed and forcibly taken control of by a foreign power which sends its own people to settle there.
• Colony
  Colony

  noun

  The, a city in NE Texas.

colony

¹ American  

[kol-uh-nee] / ˈkɒl ə ni /

noun

• colonies
  plural

1. 

   a country or territory claimed and forcibly taken control of by a foreign power which sends its own people to settle there.

   Many African nations are former European colonies.

2. a group of people who leave their native country to form a settlement in a territory that their own government has claimed and forcibly taken control of.

   The Spanish colony in Mexico was numerous, powerful, and rich.

3. any people or territory separated from but subject to a ruling power.

4. the Colonies, the British territories that formed the original 13 states of the United States: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

5. a number of people coming from the same country or speaking the same language, residing in a foreign country or city or in a particular section of it; enclave.

   There is a sizable Polish colony in Israel.

6. 1. any group of individuals having similar interests, occupations, etc., usually living in a particular locality; community.

      After college she joined a colony of artists in Florence.

   2. the district, quarter, or dwellings inhabited by such a group.

      The Greek island is now an artists' colony.

   Synonyms:

   band, body

7. Microbiology. a collection or mass of bacteria growing together as the descendants of a single cell.

8. Ecology. a group of organisms of the same kind living or growing in close association.

---

Colony ² American  

[kol-uh-nee] / ˈkɒl ə ni /

noun

1. The, a city in NE Texas.

---

colony British  

/ ˈkɒlənɪ /

noun

1. a body of people who settle in a country distant from their homeland but maintain ties with it

2. the community formed by such settlers

3. a subject territory occupied by a settlement from the ruling state

4. 1. a community of people who form a national, racial, or cultural minority

      an artists' colony

      the American colony in London

   2. the area itself

5. zoology

   1. a group of the same type of animal or plant living or growing together, esp in large numbers

   2. an interconnected group of polyps of a colonial organism

6. bacteriol a group of bacteria, fungi, etc, derived from one or a few spores, esp when grown on a culture medium

---

colony Scientific  

/ kŏl′ə-nē /

1. A group of the same kind of animals, plants, or one-celled organisms living or growing together. Organisms live in colonies for their mutual benefit, and especially their protection. Multicellular organisms may have evolved out of colonies of unicellular organisms.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• semicolony
  noun
• subcolony
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• colonies
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of colony

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English colonie, from Middle French or directly from Latin colōnia, from colōn(us) colonus + -ia -y ³

---

Explanation

A colony is a group of people who settle in a new place but keep ties to their homeland. The people who founded the United States first came to America to live as part of a British colony. Colony comes from the Latin colonia, meaning "settled land, farm." Colony can also mean "a group of people who've gathered to live near each other and share the same interest." An artists' colony would be a place where everyone's an artist, while a Dunkin' Donuts colony would be full of coffee lovers. The same rules apply to the animal kingdom — an ant colony has a shared interest in ruining your picnic.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

colony Colony colonies

The visit to Guyana marks 60 years of bilateral relations between the countries after the former colony gained independence.

From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026

“You take this beautiful bird, and you dock to the space station, a colony that’s been formed in space, and was built since the first element was launched in 1998,” Olivas said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

Two fragments taken from the same coral colony, one healthy and the other bleached, had fallen against each other in an aquarium.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026

"The season has been a difficult one for the dedicated wardens and volunteers who work tirelessly to protect the colony," Wood said.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

The colony itself is a cluster of leaking shacks with more than six hundred patients shoved inside.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

The actor is currently carrying out his sentence at the California Men’s Colony prison in San Luis Obispo.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026

More than three centuries ago, 19 residents of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, mostly women, were tried and executed after being accused of practicing witchcraft.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

Further down the Pacific Coast Highway, at the Malibu Colony Plaza strip mall, a customer and a barista at the local Starbucks guessed at when the lights would come back on.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

Located just over an hour away from his Malibu Colony retreat, the funky dwelling, which is set on 5.7 acres, has a total of five bedrooms and five bathrooms.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

Any inconvenience due to our sequestration will be outweighed by the Protection afforded both against the PoIitself and against other Tumults of this Colony, of which we all must be sensible.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson

Raman began working with slum dwellers’ organizations in Delhi, first trying to stop the evictions and later documenting conditions in the resettlement colonies, pushing for running water and better sanitation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026

The programme will "not shy away from 'the darkest days of our past', as His Majesty has described them," a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said, ahead of the tour of the former colonies.

From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026

"We hope this new research will inspire solutions that keep corals healthy long enough to enable full recovery after heat waves through slower processes such as growth, reproduction, and recruitment of new colonies."

From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026

Britain’s North American colonies united to become Canada in 1867 partly to resist the pull of economic gravity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

The separatist governments of the New York and Pennsylvania colonies offered rangers for the project.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• outpost
• protectorate
• province
• territory

---