Meaning & use

colony

noun·Academic

A country or territory under the political control of another, more powerful country, often with settlers from that country.

See it in a sentence

India was a British colony until it gained independence in 1947.

The colony's settlers built their first town near the coast for easy trade.

A note on using this word

Colony also describes a group of organisms living together, such as a colony of ants or colony of bacteria, a distinct biological sense.

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Another way to use it

2. noun

A group of the same type of animal, plant, or microorganism living or growing together.

The beekeeper checked each colony for signs of disease.

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