plural colonies
1
: an area over which a foreign nation or state extends or maintains control
a former colony
"British America" in 1776 signified not only the thirteen colonies and [the historical region called] the Floridas, but also Canada, Nova Scotia, and Britain's Caribbean colonies …—
Linda Colley
Linda Colley
also
: a group of people who establish residence in that area and who retain ties with the parent state
members of Plymouth colony
2
: a group of people who settle together in a new place
… building an ecosystem from scratch on Mars that can provide food, water and oxygen to support a colony is no small task.—Eric Mack
Eric Mack
also
: the land or buildings used by such a group
… suggested … the possibility that crops grown inside the [theoretical Mars] colony would produce suffocating levels of oxygen. —Scott Dance
Scott Dance 3
: a distinguishable localized population of a species or type of organism
a colony of termites/ants
The birds [black skimmers] generally nest in colonies along beaches, with the largest colony in Florida residing on Marco Island.—Karl Schneider
Karl Schneider4
a
: a circumscribed mass of microorganisms usually growing in or on a solid medium
colonies of bacteria
5
: a group of individuals or things with common characteristics or interests living in close association
an artist colony
a nudist colony
also
: the land or buildings used by such a group
6
: a group of persons institutionalized away from others
a leper colony
a penal colony
also
: the land or buildings used by such a group
Examples of colony in a Sentence
Massachusetts was one of the original 13 British colonies that later became the United States.
a former French colony in Africa
Recent Examples on the Web
Agrigento was founded in 580 B.C. as the largest Greek colony in Sicily.
—Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 21 Apr. 2025
Founded by liberal lawyers and academics three years before the former British colony’s 1997 handover to China, the Democratic Party had campaigned for universal suffrage and on matters from labor rights to conservation during a period when such issues were openly discussed in the city.
—Chris Lau, CNN Money, 19 Apr. 2025
The story of Haiti’s debt has long been dismissed in France, whose wealth was partly built on the backs of enslaved Africans and their descendants who were brought to work the fields of what was then its richest — and harshest — slave colony, known then as Saint Domingue.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 17 Apr. 2025
Silvestre’s ambitious 14-course tasting menu is more fully Portuguese than that of his predecessors—but fully Portuguese in a way that includes the former colonies as well as the continent.
—Ann Abel, Forbes.com, 17 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for colony
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 21 Apr. 2025
Founded by liberal lawyers and academics three years before the former British colony’s 1997 handover to China, the Democratic Party had campaigned for universal suffrage and on matters from labor rights to conservation during a period when such issues were openly discussed in the city.
—Chris Lau, CNN Money, 19 Apr. 2025
The story of Haiti’s debt has long been dismissed in France, whose wealth was partly built on the backs of enslaved Africans and their descendants who were brought to work the fields of what was then its richest — and harshest — slave colony, known then as Saint Domingue.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 17 Apr. 2025
Silvestre’s ambitious 14-course tasting menu is more fully Portuguese than that of his predecessors—but fully Portuguese in a way that includes the former colonies as well as the continent.
—Ann Abel, Forbes.com, 17 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for colony
Cite this Entry
“Colony.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colony. Accessed 25 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
colony
noun
col·o·ny
ˈkäl-ə-nē 
plural colonies
1
a
: a distant territory under the control of a foreign nation
b
: a group of people who settle in that territory and retain ties with their original homeland
2
: a group of people who settle in a new place
3
a
: a population of plants or animals in a particular place that belong to one species
b
: a mass of microbes usually growing in or on a solid food source (as agar)
4
: a group of people with common qualities or interests living in close association
an artist colony
Medical Definition
colony
noun
col·o·ny
ˈkäl-ə-nē
plural colonies
: a circumscribed mass of microorganisms usually growing in or on a solid medium
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