East India Company
Americannoun
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the company chartered by the English government in 1600 to carry on trade in the East Indies: dissolved in 1874.
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any similar company, as one chartered by the Dutch (1602–1798), the French (1664–1769), or the Danes (1729–1801).
noun
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the company chartered in 1600 by the British government to trade in the East Indies: after being driven out by the Dutch, it developed trade with India until the Indian Mutiny (1857), when the Crown took over the administration: the company was dissolved in 1874
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any similar trading company, such as any of those founded by the Dutch, French, and Danes in the 17th and 18th centuries
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.
“Painters, Ports and Profits: Artists and the East India Company, 1750-1850” follows the careers of these entrepreneurial painters whose collaborations with the EIC and with one another produced new styles characterized by hybridity and innovation.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 3, 2026
The shocking history of the East India Company, which transformed itself from an international trading company into an aggressive colonial power between 1600 and 1874, is a classic example.
From Salon • Sep. 29, 2024
He arrived at Fort St George, the White colony in Madras, as a young man in 1672 with a clerical job with East India Company.
From BBC • Mar. 12, 2024
The Dutch East India Company established Cape Town as a settlement for trading ships to pick up supplies on their way to and from Asia.
From Washington Times • Oct. 20, 2023
When England got into this war with France, do you know what the East India Company did?
From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
