colonist

American  

[kol-uh-nist] / ˈkɒl ə nɪst /

noun

• colonists
  plural

1. an inhabitant of a colony.

2. a member of a colonizing expedition.

3. (often initial capital letter) an inhabitant of the 13 British colonies that became the United States of America.

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colonist British  

/ ˈkɒlənɪst /

noun

1. a person who settles or colonizes an area

2. an inhabitant or member of a colony

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• colonists
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of colonist

An Americanism dating back to 1695–1705; colon(y) + -ist

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Explanation

A colonist is a member of a government-backed group that settles in a new country or region. The land that's claimed by a colonist is usually already occupied by another group of people. A colonist can also be called a settler, someone who helps start a settlement in a new land. You might think of colonial America and the original colonists, British subjects who settled along the eastern seaboard and claimed the land as their own, despite the presence of native people. Throughout history, colonists have tended to come from Western countries. At the heart of the word colonist is the Latin root colere, "to inhabit, tend, or guard."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

colonist colonists

However, the researchers report their work revealed the "richness, abundance and composition" of the bee populations were "signficantly impacted by agricultural colonization after as little as 10-17 years of settlement by colonist farmers and ranchers."

From Science Daily ● Apr. 10, 2024

Pocahontas died several years later in March 1617 in Gravesend, England, while colonist John Rolfe died around March 1622, he added.

From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2023

It stands on the site where Samuel de Champlain, the French colonist and navigator who founded Quebec and New France, built a chapel in 1633.

From Reuters ● Jul. 28, 2022

A British colonist is sent to instigate a revolution on a Caribbean island instrumental to the sugar cane industry.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2019

In the Disney version, Smith returns to England after a bad colonist shoots him in the shoulder.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

The animals reached Spain during the Roman Empire and were later brought to what is now Mexico by Spanish colonists in the 1500s.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

One of the main reasons colonists rebelled against the crown was that they wanted more Indigenous land—they wanted to move farther west into North America, but the king was telling them no.

From Slate ● Jul. 3, 2026

The letter from the owner of the cargo, the East India Company, to the British government gives a breakdown of the tea destroyed on December 16, 1773 by American colonists.

From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026

In another pending case about police sweeps of cellphone location data, lawyers debated whether warrants requiring Google to share information were akin to how British customs officers harassed colonists before the American Revolution.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026

The Ainu are more nearly the descendants of Japan’s ancient Jomon inhabitants, mixed with Korean genes of Yayoi colonists and of the modern Japanese.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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Related Words

• colonizer

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