colonization

American  

[kahl-uhn-iz-ay-shuhn, -ahyz-] / ˌkɑl ən ɪzˈeɪ ʃən, -aɪz- /

noun

plural

colonizations

1. the act, on the part of a nation or government, of claiming and forcibly taking control of territory other than its own, usually sending or allowing its own people to settle there.

2. the act of compelling or inducing people to settle in a particular area for economic or political purposes.

3. Biology. the spreading of a species into a new habitat.

4. Microbiology. the multiplication of a microbe in or on another organism, usually without causing infection or disease.

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colonization Scientific  

/ kŏl′ə-nĭ-zā′shən /

1. The spreading of a species into a new habitat. For example, flying insects and birds are often the first animal species to initiate colonization of barren islands formed by vulcanism or falling water levels. The first plant species to colonize such islands are often transported there as airborne seeds or through the droppings of birds.

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Other Word Forms

• anti-colonization
  adjective
• co-colonization
  noun
• colonizationist
  noun
• decolonization
  noun
• neo-colonization
  noun
• non-colonization
  noun
• post-colonization
  adjective
• pre-colonization
  adjective
• pro-colonization
  adjective
• recolonization
  noun
• self-colonization
  noun
• semi-colonization
  noun

Explanation

Colonization is the act of setting up a colony away from one's place of origin. Remember when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock? That was the beginning of a period of colonization. You may have heard of an ant colony, which is a community of ants that decided to set up shop in a particular place; this is an example of ant colonization. With humans, colonization is sometimes seen as a negative act because it tends to involve an invading culture establishing political control over an indigenous population (the people living there before the arrival of the settlers).

Example Sentences

Samantha Scott, a postdoctoral researcher in Chang's lab, is first author of the study, "Dopamine Receptor D2 Confers Colonization Resistance via Microbial Metabolites."

From Science Daily • Mar. 13, 2024

Colonization, all of the Western Hemisphere, was about money.

From Salon • Feb. 22, 2024

Colonization “severed people’s relationships with their families, with their land, with their food, with their songs, with their stories,” she says.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 11, 2023

The National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform, known as Incra, only allocated $5,100 for five families, it said.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 1, 2023

The subsequent failure of the American Colonization Society and the combination of logistical and economic difficulties in the colony of Liberia exposed the impracticality of any mass migration back to Africa.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis