US /ˈkɔl.ə.ni/ UK /ˈkɒl.ə.ni/
noun verb Freq #5720

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    A country or area controlled by another, more powerful country.

    Much of the region was once a British colony.

  2. 2
    noun

    A group of animals or plants of the same kind living together.

    The scientists studied a colony of ants.

  3. 3
    noun

    A group of people with the same background or interests living in one area.

    There is a large colony of British expats in Spain.

Thesaurus

Word family
Forms colonies
Derived forms autocolonycolonercolonialcolonialismcoloniarchcolonigeniccolonisecolonistcolonizecolonyhoodintercolonyintracolony
Related forms colognecultculturemetropole

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁- Proto-Indo-European *kʷélh₁-e-ti Proto-Italic *kʷelō Latin colō Latin colōnus Latin colōniader. Middle English colane English colony From Middle English colane, colonye, from Latin colōnia (“colony”), from colōnus (“farmer; colonist”), from colō (“till, cultivate, worship”), from earlier *quelō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- (“to move; to turn (around)”). Doublet of Cologne, Colonia, and Köln.

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