colonialism

[kuh-loh-nee-uh-liz-uhm]

noun

1. the control or governing influence of a nation over a dependent country, territory, or people.

2. the system or policy by which a nation maintains or advocates control or influence over a dependent country, territory, or people.

3. the state or condition of being colonial.

4. an idea, custom, or practice peculiar to a colony.

colonialism

/ kəˈləʊnɪəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. Also called: imperialism. the policy and practice of a power in extending control over weaker peoples or areas

colonialism

1. The control of one nation by “transplanted” people of another nation — often a geographically distant nation that has a different culture and dominant racial or ethnic group. (See ethnicity.)

Control that is economic and cultural, rather than political, is often called neocolonialism.

A classic example of colonialism is the control of India by Britain from the eighteenth century to 1947.

Other Word Forms

• colonialist noun
• colonialistic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of colonialism¹

First recorded in 1850–55; colonial ( def. ) + -ism ( def. )

Example Sentences

This man is from the top rung of New York society, his father a Columbia professor who lectures against colonialism and his mother a director whose films have had two Academy Award nominations.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Its Belt and Road Initiative, for instance, appeals to countries long resentful of Western colonialism.

Read more on Barron's

For Afrikaners, descendants of 17th Century European settlers, Kruger is revered as a hero who led the resistance against British colonialism.

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He told the BBC that The Tempest "resonates for me because it's a play about freedom and power as well as colonialism and art".

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It was a product of the industrial age, colonialism and newly racialized ideas of citizenship.

Read more on Salon