colony

¹

[kol-uh-nee]

noun

plural

colonies 

1. a country or territory claimed and forcibly taken control of by a foreign power which sends its own people to settle there.

   Many African nations are former European colonies.

2. a group of people who leave their native country to form a settlement in a territory that their own government has claimed and forcibly taken control of.

   The Spanish colony in Mexico was numerous, powerful, and rich.

3. any people or territory separated from but subject to a ruling power.

4. the Colonies, the British territories that formed the original 13 states of the United States: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

5. a number of people coming from the same country or speaking the same language, residing in a foreign country or city or in a particular section of it; enclave.

   There is a sizable Polish colony in Israel.

6. 1. any group of individuals having similar interests, occupations, etc., usually living in a particular locality; community.

      After college she joined a colony of artists in Florence.

   2. the district, quarter, or dwellings inhabited by such a group.

      The Greek island is now an artists' colony.

   Synonyms: band, body

7. Microbiology.,  a collection or mass of bacteria growing together as the descendants of a single cell.

8. Ecology.,  a group of organisms of the same kind living or growing in close association.

Colony

²

[kol-uh-nee]

noun

1. The, a city in NE Texas.

colony

/ ˈkɒlənɪ /

noun

1. a body of people who settle in a country distant from their homeland but maintain ties with it

2. the community formed by such settlers

3. a subject territory occupied by a settlement from the ruling state

4. 1. a community of people who form a national, racial, or cultural minority

      an artists' colony

      the American colony in London

   2. the area itself

5. zoology

   1. a group of the same type of animal or plant living or growing together, esp in large numbers

   2. an interconnected group of polyps of a colonial organism

6. bacteriol a group of bacteria, fungi, etc, derived from one or a few spores, esp when grown on a culture medium

colony

1. A group of the same kind of animals, plants, or one-celled organisms living or growing together. Organisms live in colonies for their mutual benefit, and especially their protection. Multicellular organisms may have evolved out of colonies of unicellular organisms.

Other Word Forms

• semicolony noun
• subcolony noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of colony¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English colonie, from Middle French or directly from Latin colōnia, from colōn(us) colonus + -ia -y ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of colony¹

C16: from Latin colōnia, from colere to cultivate, inhabit

Example Sentences

The former Portuguese colony has seen nine coups or attempted coups since 1980.

Read more on BBC

What sounds like the storyline of a medieval palace drama often plays out in real-life honey bee colonies.

Read more on Science Daily

Herodotus was an anthropological Autolycus, a spinner of yarns from Halicarnassus, a Greek colony in Asia Minor.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Students of history will note that one of the reasons why the American colonies became the United States was because colonists got tired of King George III arbitrarily prosecuting those who disagreed with him.

Read more on Salon

Threats to the bee population became a global concern starting in 2006, when beekeepers first reported significant colony losses.

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Related Words

• outpost 
• protectorate 
• province 
• territory