colonize

especially British, col·o·nise

[kol-uh-nahyz]

verb (used with object)

colonized, colonizing 

1. 1. (of a nation or government) to claim and forcibly take control of (a territory other than its own), usually sending some of its own people to settle there.

      England colonized Australia.

   2. to move from one’s own country and settle in (such a territory).

      Dutch farmers were among the first Europeans to colonize the river valleys of New Jersey and New York.

2. to be the first settlers in.

   Southern Pacific islanders are thought to have colonized Hawaii around a.d. 450.

3. to compel or induce (people) to settle in an area for economic or political purposes.

   The government made efforts to colonize laborers and their families in areas suitable for growing rice.

4. Biology.,  (of a species of plant or animal) to move or be transported to (a new habitat) and seek to become established there.

   Arthropods were the first animal species to colonize land around 450 million years ago.

5. Microbiology, Medicine/Medical.,  (of a microbe) to multiply on or in (another organism), especially without causing infection or disease.

   Researchers attempted to get the bacteria in a probiotic to successfully colonize the intestines of 23 volunteers.

verb (used without object)

colonized, colonizing 

1. to take control of or settle in territories other than one’s own.

   Many other European powers were colonizing during the modern period besides France.

   When the British colonized in Australia, the basic rights of Aboriginals were taken away.

colonize

/ ˈkɒləˌnaɪz /

verb

1. to send colonists to or establish a colony in (an area)

2. to settle in (an area) as colonists

3. (tr) to transform (a community) into a colony

4. (of plants and animals) to become established in (a new environment)

Other Word Forms

• colonizable adjective
• colonization noun
• colonizer noun
• colonizability noun
• colonizationist noun
• intercolonization noun
• intercolonize verb
• recolonization noun
• recolonize verb (used with object)
• uncolonize verb (used with object)
• well-colonized adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of colonize¹

First recorded in 1615–25; colon(y) + -ize

Example Sentences

Instead of the colonizing of other territories and peoples, hegemons act to dominate other countries economically and militarily – and perhaps ideologically and politically, as well.

From Salon

I was a middle-class kid from New Jersey, but like a poultice, this ancient, colonized country drew out an answering difference from my bones.

From Salon

Its colonizing project was carried out just as other colonized peoples were throwing off their rulers.

From Salon

“Born too late to afford a home, and too early to colonize Mars” is among their slogans.

From Los Angeles Times

In early 1960s America, the Reich rules by technology, building a hydrogen bomb for a genocidal attack on Africa and using Wernher von Braun’s rockets to colonize the solar system.

From Salon

Related Words

• conquer