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.

Nearby words

Also especially British, col·o·nise.

Origin of colonize

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

Related forms

col·o·niz·a·ble, adjectivecol·o·niz·a·bil·i·ty, nouncol·o·ni·za·tion, nouncol·o·ni·za·tion·ist, noun

col·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. 2019

Examples from the Web for colonizer

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|DAILY BEAST
Pierre Terriot was a colonizer, and an interesting figure in the early days of Minas.
The Land of Evangeline|John Frederic Herbin
As a colonizer and builder, from the pioneer days to the completion of his work, he was equal to the foremost of his associates.
Gospel Doctrine|Joseph F. Smith
We have not spoken of the Chancellor as an argonaut, of the Chancellor as a colonizer.
The Arena|Various

As an explorer he stands unequalled, but as a colonizer he utterly failed.
The Spanish Pioneers|Charles F. Lummis
The notion, so widely current in this country, that Spain "failed" as a colonizer, arises from a faulty method.
The Colonization of North America|Herbert Eugene Bolton

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

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

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

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

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RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of colonize

Examples from the Web for colonizer

colonize

colonise

verb

colonize