- [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
Extra ExamplesTopics Historyb2- Britain's overseas colonies
- Settlers established a new colony in the early 18th century.
- 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.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- overseas
- American
- British
- …
- establish
- in a/the colony
- [singular + singular or plural verb] a group of people who go to live permanently in a colony
- The colony was/were looking forward to fifty or more years of autonomy.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- overseas
- American
- British
- …
- establish
- in a/the colony
- [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 was/were looking forward to this event.
- an artists’ colony
- [countable] (Indian English) a small town set up by an employer or an organization for its workers
- [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 colony of seals was/were lying about on the rocks.
- a bird colony
Extra ExamplesTopics Animalsc1- The birds nest in huge colonies.
- Some of the insects will leave to form a new colony.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- huge
- large
- thriving
- …
- form
- in a/the colony
- colony of
Word Originlate 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’.
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