col·ony [colonycolonies] BrE [ˈkɒləni] NAmE [ˈkɑːləni] noun (pl. col·onies) 1. countable a country or an area that is governed by people from another, more powerful, country •former British colonies •the Declaration of Independence of the 13 colonies and the creation of the United States 2. singular singular or plural verb a group of people who go to live permanently in a colony 3. countable singular or plural verb a group of people from the same place or with the same work or interests who live in a particular city or country or who live together •the American colony in Paris •an artists' colony 4. countable (IndE)a small town set up by an employer or an organization for its workers 5. countable singular or plural verb (biology)a group of plants or animals that live together or grow in the same place •a colony of ants •a bird colony
Word Origin: late Middle English (denoting a settlement formed mainly of retired soldiers, acting as a garrison in newly conquered territory in the Roman Empire): from Latin colonia ‘settlement, farm’, from colonus ‘settler, farmer’, from colere ‘cultivate’.
Example Bank: •Britain's overseas colonies •Settlers established a new colony in the early 18th century. •Some of the insects will leave to form a new colony. •The birds nest in huge colonies. •the former Portuguese colony of Macao •By 1733, the British had set up a total of 13 colonies in North America. •East Timor was a former Portuguese colony.
singular or plural verb a group of people who go to live permanently in a colony