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Synonyms

colonize

American

[kol-uh-nahyz] / ˈkɒl əˌnaɪz /

especially British, colonise

verb (used with object)

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.
to be the first settlers in.

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

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 British

/ ˈkɒləˌnaɪz /

verb

to send colonists to or establish a colony in (an area)
to settle in (an area) as colonists
(tr) to transform (a community) into a colony
(of plants and animals) to become established in (a new environment)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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Etymology

Origin of colonize

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

Explanation

To colonize is to settle in, and take control of, land outside your own borders. Usually, a large, powerful country colonizes a territory or area that's much less powerful. There are many examples through history of powerful countries that colonized various regions of the world in order to gain natural resources or to obtain more land for their citizens to live in. When this happens, it's rarely good news for the people who lived there already. Colonize and colony come from the Latin colonus, "tenant farmer" or "settler in new land," from the root colere, "to cultivate, till, or inhabit."

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

colonize colonizes colonized colonizing

Bacteria and other microorganisms can colonize its surfaces, forming communities known as biofilms.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

By the end of the 16th century, travel accounts by English explorers inspired efforts to colonize the Carolina coast.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

Their findings suggest that insects did not become fully terrestrial immediately after beginning to colonize land.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

Now, SpaceX is planning to price its IPO at $135 a share at a valuation of roughly $1.77 trillion, with ambitions to colonize Mars.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

“To China? Didn’t the Japanese once colonize China, leaving a very bad taste in the mouths of the Chinese?”

From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman

In their native Japan, the East Asian Joro spider colonizes most of the country.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 13, 2024

Despite its gruesome appearance, this mushroom is beneficial for the coniferous trees it colonizes.

From Salon ● Apr. 30, 2023

“Once it colonizes the root system and displays visible mushrooms, the fungus is well progressed within the tree,” Crooks says.

From New York Times ● Nov. 24, 2022

The fungus colonizes the trays, resulting in a material that, through an undisclosed proprietary procedure, looks and feels like leather, according to the company.

From Scientific American ● Mar. 28, 2022

It colonizes their bodies, spreads to their tissue and muscles and blood and cells.

From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon

These organisms sometimes colonized the surfaces of bones, leaving recognizable signatures behind.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026

Still, some Puerto Ricans such as Díaz view the topic as part of the island’s history, initially brought to the Caribbean by 16th-century Spaniards when the island was first colonized.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 5, 2026

Before Europeans colonized North America, bald eagles were pretty much everywhere there was a river, lake, or stream large enough to support sizable fish.

From Slate ● Feb. 21, 2026

It accounts for more than 200,000 jobs and has colonized entire neighborhoods.

From Barron's ● Feb. 16, 2026

Shona was the country's national language, but most people spoke English as a result of being colonized.

From "I Will Always Write Back" by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda

In a brief preface Mr. Hoffman has also told us about wrens colonizing an abandoned swallows’ nest above the door of the house he shares with his wife, Julia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

SpaceX has big dreams, including colonizing Mars, operating orbital data centers and putting a mass driver on the moon that would make it easier to put satellites in orbit.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026

Because wolves are not capable of naturally colonizing such an island across open sea, researchers believe humans must have brought the animals there, likely by boat.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026

At this point in his public arc, his affinity for the material is more like a colonizing claim.

From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026

Thus Pizarro’s capture of Atahuallpa illustrates the set of proximate factors that resulted in Europeans’ colonizing the New World instead of Native Americans’ colonizing Europe.

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

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023