colonialism

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A policy by which a nation maintains or extends its control over foreign dependencies.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A practice, idiom, or phrase peculiar to a colony.
2. n. Collectively, the characteristics of colonial life.
3. n. The colonial principle or system: as, British colonialism works well.

Wiktionary

1. n. The colonial domination policy pursued by the powers of Europe, from the second half of the XIX century to the years following World War II. A colonial system.
2. n. A colonial linguistic expression. Term or expression of colonial origin entered in a language.
3. n. Colonial life.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The state or quality of, or the relationship involved in, being colonial.
2. n. A custom, idea, feature of government, or the like, characteristic of a colony.
3. n. The colonial system of political government or extension of territory, by which one nation exerts political control over another nation, territory, or people, maintaining the colony in a state of dependence, its inhabitants not having the same full rights as those of the colonial power. The controlling power is typically extended thus by military force or the threat of force.
4. n. the political or ideological system of beliefs advocating or justifying colonial control of one nation over another nation, territory, or people.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. exploitation by a stronger country of weaker one; the use of the weaker country's resources to strengthen and enrich the stronger country