colonize

[kol-uh-nahyz]

See more synonyms for colonize on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), col·o·nized, col·o·niz·ing.

to establish a colony in; settle: England colonized Australia.
to form a colony of: to colonize laborers in a mining region.

verb (used without object), col·o·nized, col·o·niz·ing.

to form a colony: They went out to Australia to colonize.
to settle in a colony.

Also especially British, col·o·nise.

Origin of colonize

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

Related formscol·o·niz·a·ble, adjectivecol·o·niz·a·bil·i·ty, nouncol·o·ni·za·tion, nouncol·o·ni·za·tion·ist, nouncol·o·niz·er, nounin·ter·col·o·ni·za·tion, nounin·ter·col·o·nize, verb, in·ter·col·o·nized, in·ter·col·o·niz·ing.re·col·o·ni·za·tion, nounre·col·o·nize, verb (used with object), re·col·o·nized, re·col·o·niz·ing.un·col·o·nize, verb (used with object), un·col·o·nized, un·col·o·niz·ing.well-col·o·nized, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for colonizer

Contemporary Examples

Russia is of course the colonizer and there was a sort of “mental revolution” against Russian power.
Inside ‘Maidan’: Sergei Loznitsa on His Ukrainian Uprising Doc and Putin’s ‘Fascist’ Regime
Richard Porton
May 24, 2014

Historical Examples

We have not spoken of the Chancellor as an argonaut, of the Chancellor as a colonizer.
The Arena
Various
He was a young man of energy and had great ideas as a colonizer.
Montreal 1535-1914 under the French Rgime
William Henry Atherton
He may be no sort of a colonizer himself, but he knows how to sell goods.
In the Land of Mosques & Minarets
Francis Miltoun
As an explorer he stands unequalled, but as a colonizer he utterly failed.
The Spanish Pioneers
Charles F. Lummis
Charnisay possessed the instincts of a colonizer and had already brought a number of settlers to Acadia.
Glimpses of the Past
W. O. Raymond

British Dictionary definitions for colonizer

colonize

colonise

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)

Derived Formscolonizable or colonisable, adjectivecolonization or colonisation, nouncolonizer or coloniser, noun

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

Word Origin and History for colonizer

colonize

v.

1620s, "to settle with colonists," from stem of Latin colonus "tiller of the soil, farmer" (see colony); in sense "to make another place into a national dependency" without regard for settlement there by 1790s (e.g. in reference to French activity in Egypt or British work in India), and probably directly from colony.

No principle ought ever to be tolerated or acted upon, that does not proceed on the basis of India being considered as the temporary residence of a great British Establishment, for the good government of the country, upon steady and uniform principles, and of a large British factory, for the beneficial management of its trade, upon rules applicable to the state and manners of the country. [Henry Dundas, Chairman of the East-India Company, letter, April 2, 1800]

Related: Colonized; colonizing.

colonize

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Examples from the Web for colonizer

Contemporary Examples

Russia is of course the colonizer and there was a sort of “mental revolution” against Russian power.

Historical Examples

We have not spoken of the Chancellor as an argonaut, of the Chancellor as a colonizer.

He was a young man of energy and had great ideas as a colonizer.

He may be no sort of a colonizer himself, but he knows how to sell goods.

As an explorer he stands unequalled, but as a colonizer he utterly failed.

Charnisay possessed the instincts of a colonizer and had already brought a number of settlers to Acadia.

colonize

colonise

Word Origin and History for colonizer

colonize

v.

Origin of colonize