col ‧ o ‧ nize BrE AmE ( also colonise British English ) /ˈkɒlənaɪz $ ˈkɑː-/ verb [transitive]
1 . to establish political control over an area or over another country, and send your citizens there to settle ⇨ colony
2 . if animals or plants colonize an area, large numbers of them start to live there:
a dead tree that has been colonized by ants
—colonizer noun [countable]
—colonization /ˌkɒlənaɪˈzeɪʃ ə n $ ˌkɑːlənə-/ noun [uncountable]