colony
[kol-uh-nee]
- a group of people who leave their native country to form in a new land a settlement subject to, or connected with, the parent nation.
- the country or district settled or colonized: Many Western nations are former European colonies.
- any people or territory separated from but subject to a ruling power.
- the Colonies, those British colonies 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.
- a number of people coming from the same country, or speaking the same language, residing in a foreign country or city, or a particular section of it; enclave: the Polish colony in Israel; the American colony in Paris.
- any group of individuals having similar interests, occupations, etc., usually living in a particular locality; community: a colony of artists.
- the district, quarter, or dwellings inhabited by any such number or group: The Greek island is now an artists' colony.
- an aggregation of bacteria growing together as the descendants of a single cell.
- Ecology. a group of organisms of the same kind living or growing in close association.
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Origin of colony
Synonyms
See more synonyms for colony on Thesaurus.com6. body, band.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for colonies
Contemporary Examples
Cricket is a sport enjoyed by hundreds of millions around the globe, mainly in former British colonies.
Dr. John Morgan, perhaps the best-trained physician in the colonies, was then the leader.
The laws carried over to the American colonies, and would ultimately go on the books in 40 U.S. states.
It remains the receptive petri dish to any and all sorts of colonies of humanity that finally managed to find one another.
Five Subreddits You May Have Missed, and Probably Still Should Give a MissKelly Williams Brown
April 5, 2014
Instead, the two colonies were joined in a confederation, with separate legislatures.
What Canada's History Teaches Us About the Feasibility of the One-State ParadigmBernard Avishai
September 24, 2013
Historical Examples
And to that old French province the Englishman of the colonies must go to find his country!
Old NewsNathaniel Hawthorne
The fate of their colonies will be fought in Europe, not here.
The Leopard WomanStewart Edward White
As for furs and leather and lumber, no other town in the colonies compared with Albany.
In the ValleyHarold Frederic
And when the men were not wanted for India, they were shipped off to the planters in the American colonies.
Self-HelpSamuel Smiles
He laboured to ameliorate the condition of the native Indians in the American colonies.
Self-HelpSamuel Smiles
Colonies
- British the subject territories formerly in the British Empire
- US history the 13 states forming the original United States of America when they declared their independence (1776). These were Connecticut, North and South Carolina, Delaware, Georgia, New Hampshire, New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and New Jersey
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colony
- a body of people who settle in a country distant from their homeland but maintain ties with it
- the community formed by such settlers
- a subject territory occupied by a settlement from the ruling state
- a community of people who form a national, racial, or cultural minorityan artists' colony; the American colony in London
- the area itself
- zoology
- a group of the same type of animal or plant living or growing together, esp in large numbers
- an interconnected group of polyps of a colonial organism
- bacteriol a group of bacteria, fungi, etc, derived from one or a few spores, esp when grown on a culture medium
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin colōnia, from colere to cultivate, inhabit
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for colonies
colony
n.
late 14c., "ancient Roman settlement outside Italy," from Latin colonia "settled land, farm, landed estate," from colonus "husbandman, tenant farmer, settler in new land," from colere "to inhabit, cultivate, frequent, practice, tend, guard, respect," from PIE root *kwel- "move around" (source of Latin -cola "inhabitant;" see cycle (n.)). Also used by the Romans to translate Greek apoikia "people from home." Modern application dates from 1540s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
colony
(kŏl′ə-nē)- A discrete group of organisms, such as a group of cells growing on a solid nutrient surface.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
colony
[kŏl′ə-nē]
- 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.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.