Colony

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈkÉ’l.É™ni/
• US IPA: /ˈkÉ‘lÉ™niː/

Origin

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)").

Full definition of colony

Noun

1. A settlement of emigrants who move to a new place, but remain culturally tied to their original place of origin
2. Region or governmental unit created by another country and generally ruled by another country.
• Bermuda is a crown colony of Great Britain.
3. A group of people with the same interests or ethnic origin concentrated in a particular geographic area
• The Amana Colonies in Iowa were settled by people from Germany
4. A group of organisms of same or different species living together in close association.
• ant colony
• The Portuguese Man O' War (Physalia physalis), also known as the bluebubble, bluebottle or the man-of-war, is commonly thought of as a jellyfish but is actually a siphonophore — a colony of specialized polyps and medusoids. Wikipedia article on Portuguese Man o' War
5. A collective noun for rabbits.

Derived terms

Related terms

• Crown colony
• cult
• culture