colony English · revision 7595

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1382|origins=la colonia}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkɒl.ə.ni/ ''(UK)''; /ˈkɔl.ə.ni/, /ˈkɑ.lə.ni/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English colonie, borrowed through Old French colonie or directly from Latin [[m|la|colonia|alt=colōnia|t=settled land, farm, landed estate]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from colōnus, cultivator, settler,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|la|colo|alt=colere|t=to cultivate, inhabit]] (see [[culture]]),^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) from PIE [[ine-pro|*kʷel-|t=to turn, move round; dwell]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A Roman settlement outside Italy: about 1382–84, in the Wycliffe Bible.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Word Origins notes that a Roman colonia was especially a settlement of veteran soldiers, a sense preserved in the names of Cologne (Colonia Agrippina) and Lincoln (Lindum Colonia).^(Cresswell 2021) The Romans also used it to translate Greek apoikia, a settlement of people from home,^(Etymonline) and English applied it to Greek colonies from 1580.^(OED 1989) A body of people settling in a new country while remaining subject to the mother country is from 1548–49 (the 1540s),^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and the territory colonized from 1612.^(OED 1989) A quarter inhabited by a group of foreigners is from 1711.^(OED 1989) In biology, a group of organisms of one kind living together is a later sense.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1382 – a Roman settlement.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1548–49 – a body of settlers.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1580 – a Greek colony.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1612 – a colonized territory.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1711 – a foreign quarter.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A group of [[emigrant|alt=emigrants]] who settle in a distant land but stay linked to their home country.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A territory so settled, or one ruled by a distant country; a [[dependency]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A group of people of the same nationality, interests or occupation living together: ''an artists' colony''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(biology)'' A group of animals or plants of one kind living together.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[subcolony]]

+ * [[semicolony]]

+ * [[colonial]]

+ * [[colonialism]]

+ * [[colonize]]

+ * [[colonist]]

+ * [[Cape Colony]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Cologne]]

+ * [[Crown colony]]

+ * [[cult]]

+ * [[culture]]

+ * [[cultivate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}