/kol"euh nee/ , n. , pl. colonies .
1. a group of people who leave their native country to form in a new land a settlement subject to, or connected with, the parent nation.
2. the country or district settled or colonized: Many Western nations are former European colonies.
3. any people or territory separated from but subject to a ruling power.
4. the Colonies , those British colonies that formed the original 13 states of the United States: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
5. a number of people coming from the same country, or speaking the same language, residing in a foreign country or city, or a particular section of it; enclave: the Polish colony in Israel; the American colony in Paris.
6. any group of individuals having similar interests, occupations, etc., usually living in a particular locality; community: a colony of artists.
7. the district, quarter, or dwellings inhabited by any such number or group: The Greek island is now an artists' colony.
8. an aggregation of bacteria growing together as the descendants of a single cell.
9. Ecol. a group of organisms of the same kind living or growing in close association.
[ 1350-1400; ME colonie ( colonia, equiv. to colon ( us ) COLONUS + -ia -Y 3 ]
Syn. 6. body, band.