colony

[ kol-uh-nee ]

/ ˈkɒl ə ni /

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noun, plural col·o·nies.

a group of people who leave their native country to form in a new land a settlement subject to, or connected with, the parent nation.

the country or district settled or colonized: Many Western nations are former European colonies.

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

the Colonies, those British colonies 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.

a number of people coming from the same country, or speaking the same language, residing in a foreign country or city, or a particular section of it; enclave: the Polish colony in Israel;the American colony in Paris.

any group of individuals having similar interests, occupations, etc., usually living in a particular locality; community: a colony of artists.

the district, quarter, or dwellings inhabited by any such number or group: The Greek island is now an artists' colony.

an aggregation of bacteria growing together as the descendants of a single cell.

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

OTHER WORDS FOR colony

6 body, band.

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Origin of colony

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English colonie, from Middle French or directly from Latin colōnia, equivalent to colōn(us) ”farmer, tenant farmer” + -ia noun suffix; see origin at colonus, -y³

OTHER WORDS FROM colony

sem·i·col·o·ny, noun, plural sem·i·col·o·nies.sub·col·o·ny, noun, plural sub·col·o·nies.

Words nearby colony

colonnette, colonoscope, colonoscopy, Colonsay, colonus, colony, colony collapse disorder, colony-stimulating factor, colophon, Colophonian, colophony

Other definitions for colony (2 of 2)

Colony

[ kol-uh-nee ]

/ ˈkɒl ə ni /

noun

The, a city in NE Texas.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use colony in a sentence

They believe it could explain how mole-rat colonies are able to organize and sustain themselves.
Like humans, naked mole-rats have regional accents|Rahul Rao|February 25, 2021|Popular-Science
So, queens may somehow control the “voice” with which her colony speaks.
Unique dialects help naked mole-rats tell friends from foes|Jonathan Lambert|February 24, 2021|Science News For Students
She saw my rigor in writing all my methods down, detailing which colonies had been picked, each with individual genetic signatures—and each one needing to be cultured, PCR’d, and genotyped.
“She saw something in me”|Katie McLean|February 24, 2021|MIT Technology Review
This tribute forced five Canarian families to be relocated to the American colonies in exchange for every ton of goods those colonies shipped back to Spain.
These oranges are for a lot more than juicing|By Carlos C. Olaechea/Saveur|February 15, 2021|Popular-Science

He’d parked his colonies on a farm three hours north of San Francisco in January.
Bee theft is almost a perfect crime—but there’s a new sheriff in town|Andrew Zaleski|February 9, 2021|Popular-Science
Krivov was sentenced to serve four years at a general regime penal colony for his fight for freedom and human rights.
Behind Bars for the Holidays: 11 Political Prisoners We Want to See Free In 2015|Movements.Org|December 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Historically, the Puritans banned Christmas from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1659.
Kirk Cameron Saves Christmas from Abominable Killjoys (Other Christians)|Brandy Zadrozny|November 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He was born in the country, which was a British colony called Northern Rhodesia at the time, but his parents were not.
Democratic Africa Gets Its First White Leader|Nico Hines|October 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I still think of America,” she once told an interviewer, “as a colony of Europe.
Still Desperately Seeking Susan Sontag|Allen Barra|September 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And by the way, if we really are just a colony of Europe, where did the rock and roll she professed to love so much come from?
Still Desperately Seeking Susan Sontag|Allen Barra|September 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Majesty on high has a colony and a people on earth, which otherwise is under the supremacy of the Evil One.
Solomon and Solomonic Literature|Moncure Daniel Conway
Hamo in alluding to the early cultivation of tobacco by the colony, says, that John Rolfe was the pioneer tobacco planter.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
This was in 1616, when the colony numbered only three hundred and fifty-one persons.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
Soon after that, I wrote you in regard to the condition in which we found this infant Church and Colony.
The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. II: Acadia, 1612-1614|Various
William Penn, published in England his frame of government for the colony of Pennsylvania.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell

British Dictionary definitions for colony

colony

/ (ˈkɒlənɪ) /

noun plural -nies

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

the community formed by such settlers

a subject territory occupied by a settlement from the ruling state

a community of people who form a national, racial, or cultural minorityan artists' colony; the American colony in London
the area itself

zoology

a group of the same type of animal or plant living or growing together, esp in large numbers
an interconnected group of polyps of a colonial organism

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

Word Origin for colony

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

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

Scientific definitions for colony

colony

[ kŏl′ə-nē ]

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.

colony

OTHER WORDS FOR colony

Origin of colony

OTHER WORDS FROM colony

Words nearby colony

Other definitions for colony (2 of 2)

Words related to colony

How to use colony in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for colony

Word Origin for colony

Scientific definitions for colony