Colony definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

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Definitions (27)

American Heritage Dictionary (9)

noun A group of emigrants or their descendants who settle in a distant territory but remain subject to or closely associated with the parent country.
noun A territory thus settled.
noun A region politically controlled by a distant country; a dependency.

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Century Dictionary (11)

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. Once on a time thirteen famous colonies of the older England voted that they were and ought to be free and independent States. By that vote they ceased, in the sense of a colonial office, to be English colonies any longer. In the sense of history they became English colonies more truly than before. E. A. Freeman, Amer. Lects., p. 25.
The country or district planted or colonized. This citie [Augusta] was a Colony of the Romanes, by whom it was for a long time inhabited. Coryat, Crudities, I. 97.
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.

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The only one, however, to whom he held out any hope of being chosen for his colony was a man named Orag Spal, who had been a Marine non-commissioned gun-control officer for twenty-three years before a dishonourable discharge for theft cast him out of the protection of the armed services, three years short of the retirement that would have ensured his lifetime exemption from the lottery. — Analog May, 1971
If the men who wielded secular power in the colony were absent from the church, its legitimacy would be undermined. — Elections - fresh news by plazoo.com
"America's version of the colony is the military base." — CommonDreams.org Headlines
An examination of Nova Scotia's trade and tariffs between 1830 and 1866 suggests that the colony was already moving toward free trade before the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854 with the U.S. took effect, but that the treaty still resulted in modest direct gains. — Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium - Recent changes [en]
As historian Chalmers Johnson says, "America's version of the colony is the military base." — GlobalResearch.ca

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province · settlement · community · nation · population · city · district · army · territory · civilization · institution · republic

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

Middle English colonie, from Latin colōnia, from colōnus, settler, from colere, to cultivate; see k^wel-¹ in Indo-European roots.

Century Dictionary (2)

Early modern English colonie; = Dutch kolonie = German kolonie = Danish Swedish koloni, from French colonie = Spanish Portuguese Italian colonia, from Latin colonia, a colony, from colonus, a husbandman, colonist, from colere, till, cultivate, dwell: see cult, cultivate, etc.
from colony, n.

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