/ ˈkɒləni; NAmE ˈkɑːl-/ noun ( pl. -ies )
1.
[ C ] a country or an area that is governed by people from another, more powerful, country :
former British colonies
2.
[ sing.+ sing./pl. v . ] a group of people who go to live permanently in a colony
3.
[ C +sing./pl. v . ] 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
an artists' colony
4.
[ C ] ( IndE ) a small town set up by an employer or an organization for its workers
5.
[ C +sing./pl. v . ] ( biology ) a group of plants or animals that live together or grow in the same place :
a colony of ants
a bird colony
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WORD ORIGIN
late 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.