colony

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A group of emigrants or their descendants who settle in a distant territory but remain subject to or closely associated with the parent country.
2. n. A territory thus settled.
3. n. A region politically controlled by a distant country; a dependency.
4. n. A group of people with the same interests or ethnic origin concentrated in a particular area: the American colony in Paris.
5. n. The area occupied by such a group.
6. n. The British colonies that became the original 13 states of the United States.
7. n. A group of people who have been institutionalized in a relatively remote area: an island penal colony.
8. n. Ecology A group of the same kind of animals, plants, or one-celled organisms living or growing together.
9. n. Microbiology A visible growth of microorganisms, usually in a solid or semisolid nutrient medium.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A company or body of people who migrate from their native country or home to a new province, country, or district, to cultivate and inhabit it, but remain subject to or intimately connected with the parent state; also, the descendants of such settlers so long as the connection with the mother country is retained. Among the ancient Greeks the simple colony, which was not necessarily dependent upon the parent state except in religious matters, must be distinguished from a cleruchy (which see). Among the Romans the earliest colonies, so called, were merely garrisons in a hostile territory. Later, colonies were founded for the benefit of the poor of Rome; but Sylla restored the military character to the colony, which became in general a foundation for the benefit of veteran soldiers who had served their time. The colonists retained their Roman citizenship, and received their lands by lot, the original inhabitants of the site being subordinated to them. In American history the name is given especially to the thirteen separate communities along the Atlantic coast under English rule which combined in the revolution, and were formed in 1776 into the United States of America. They were (in geographical order) New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. These were all originally English colonies excepting New York and Delaware, which were for a time respectively Dutch (as New Netherland) and Swedish (as New Sweden). Their governments were by charter (in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut), proprietary (in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland), or royal (in the remaining colonies). In each (except Rhode Island and Connecticut, which chose their own governors) the governor was appointed by the crown or by the proprietaries. The crown claimed a veto on legislation, and jurisdiction of appeals from the court of last resort.
2. n. The country or district planted or colonized.
3. n. A number of persons of a particular nation, taken collectively, residing temporarily or indefinitely in a foreign city or country: as, the American colony in Paris.
4. n. A number of animals or plants living or growing colonially. Specifically— In botany, a group of (generally unicellular) fungi or algæ produced by cell-division from a common parent cell, and adhering in groups or chains, sometimes held together by an enveloping gelatinous substance, each individual being able to exist separately.
5. To colonize.
6. n. A circumscribed aggregation of bacteria of the same species in artificial culture.
7. n. In sociology, a group of individuals of like natures or having a common interest, living by themselves as a self-sufficient social organization.

Wiktionary

1. n. A settlement of emigrants who move to a new place, but remain culturally tied to their original place
2. n. Region or governmental unit created by another country and generally ruled by another country.
3. n. A group of people with the same interests or ethnic origin concentrated in a particular geographic area
4. n. A group of organisms of same or different species living together in close association.
5. n. A collective noun for rabbits.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A company of people transplanted from their mother country to a remote province or country, and remaining subject to the jurisdiction of the parent state.
2. n. The district or country colonized; a settlement.
3. n. a territory subject to the ruling governmental authority of another country and not a part of the ruling country.
4. n. A company of persons from the same country sojourning in a foreign city or land.
5. n. (Nat. Hist.) A number of animals or plants living or growing together, beyond their usual range.
6. n. (Bot.) A cell family or group of common origin, mostly of unicellular organisms, esp. among the lower algæ. They may adhere in chains or groups, or be held together by a gelatinous envelope.
7. n. (Zoöl.) A cluster or aggregation of zooids of any compound animal, as in the corals, hydroids, certain tunicates, etc.
8. n. (Zoöl.) A community of social insects, as ants, bees, etc.
9. n. (Microbiology) a group of microorganisms originating as the descendents of one individual cell, growing on a gelled growth medium, as of gelatin or agar; especially, such a group that has grown to a sufficient number to be visible to the naked eye.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a group of organisms of the same type living or growing together
2. n. a geographical area politically controlled by a distant country
3. n. (microbiology) a group of organisms grown from a single parent cell
4. n. a place where a group of people with the same interest or occupation are concentrated
5. n. one of the 13 British colonies that formed the original states of the United States
6. n. a body of people who settle far from home but maintain ties with their homeland; inhabitants remain nationals of their home state but are not literally under the home state's system of government