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

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

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

Etymology

Origin of colonial

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

Example Sentences

That more complicated framing is navigable—especially considering the country’s colonial past, lasting global impact, and unparalleled diversity—but only when a laserlike focus is brought to the project.

From The Wall Street Journal

Sudan has been at war in some form or another most of the time since its independence from British colonial rule in 1956 – 58 out of the past 70 years.

From BBC

The nizam juggled between his obligations to the colonial raj and to India’s rising pro-independence leaders Jawaharlal Nehru and Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

From The Wall Street Journal

Britain's military presence in Cyprus is a legacy of the colonial past.

From BBC

Growing numbers of museums and private collections worldwide are facing pressure to repatriate artworks removed from their native countries, particularly those looted during periods of colonial rule.

From Barron's