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

After America defeated the Marianas’ colonial ruler in the Spanish-American War, it wanted a base to project power over the western Pacific.

From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2026

Dr Konyak points to explorers, colonial officials, missionaries and photographers drawn to tattooed faces, ornaments, weapons and headhunting, while the lives behind them often receded from view.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

New geopolitical realities seemed possible—the demise of the European colonial order, the rise of the U.S. as a superpower and the transformation of Asia into a region of nation-states.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

For much of Asia, it was more than a war against Japan; it was an unparalleled chance to throw off the yoke of colonial rule.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

Over and over, the work of the colonial surveyors and speculators led to destruction of Indigenous towns.

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

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 wealthiest and most international city in America, its grand mansions and comfortable houses would obviously be useful as a base for an invading army that was just beginning a campaign against uppity colonials.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 15, 2023

Fortunately there were all sorts and types of colonials.

From "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie