colonisation

Forms

colonisation f (plural colonisations)^[1]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from English colonization, an English noun of action from the verb to colonize.^[2][3][4] The TLFi also allows that it was formed from French coloniser + -ation within the language, as Wiktionary and Littré take it, but thinks the English source more likely.^[2][1][5] Rey, who has it from coloniser perhaps on the English model, counts it among the half-borrowings that show British dominance in the history of colonial empires since the late 18th century; the verb itself translates the English colonize (1622), which is formed on colony, the counterpart of French colonie.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1769, in Grenville's Tableau de l'Angleterre, for the settling and taking over of a territory by a home country.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word followed the history of colonie: it named the peopling of a land with settlers and then the exploitation of the countries that became colonies.^[4][6] In the 19th and 20th centuries it stood beside newer words of the same family, such as colonisateur (1835), and the critique of the colonial system gave colonialisme (1902).^[6] By analogy it is used in biology and ecology for a species or organism spreading over a terrain or part of the body,^[2][4] and in a figurative way for the commercial take-over of a place.^[4] Its opposite is décolonisation.^[4]

Timeline

• 1769 – First recorded, in Grenville's Tableau de l'Angleterre.^[2]
• 1770 – The English word colonization is cited by the TLFi from this year.^[2][3]
• 1790 – The verb coloniser is recorded.^[6]
• 1835 – Colonisateur appears.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Colonization: the settling of a territory with colonists and its transformation into a colonie.^[4][2]
2. The exploitation and development of the countries that have become colonies.^[4][7]
3. (figurative) The taking over of a place for commercial or advertising ends.^[4]
4. (biology, ecology) The spread of a species or organism over a new area or part of the body.^[4][2]

Related words

• colonie
• colon
• colonial
• décolonisation
• English colonization

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse