colonial

[kuh-loh-nee-uhl]

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.

noun

1. an inhabitant of a colony.

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

colonial

/ 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

noun

1. a native of a colony

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of colonial¹

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

Example Sentences

But ties with former colonial power Russia remain strong, even as the country has forged its own distinct national identity.

Read more on Barron's

In April 1930, Gandhi concluded his pivotal salt march, breaking the British monopoly on salt production - a charged symbol of colonial misrule.

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In response, the British colonial government established a public-housing authority that later launched a program to sell apartments at below-market prices to families that otherwise would be unable to buy a home.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Portugal, the country's former colonial ruler, has called for a return to constitutional order, with its foreign ministry urging "all those involved to refrain from any act of institutional or civic violence".

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Beloved in colonial America, hard cider lost favor in the mid-19th century as crisp lagers ascended; the temperance movement and Prohibition felled cider-apple trees.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal