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History vocabulary · Empires, States and Rulers

Colony

Meaning in history, with examples

/ˈkɒləni/nounCore term

In history, colony means: A territory ruled by another, usually distant, state, or a settlement founded by people from another country who stay under its control.

In Turkish: sömürge, koloni

How it is used

Ancient Greek cities founded colonies around the Mediterranean and the Black Sea; modern European states ruled colonies in Asia, Africa and the Americas. Colonies are founded, governed, exploited and gain independence. A colonist is a settler.

Example sentences

  1. Sinope was founded as a Greek colony on the Black Sea coast.

  2. By 1914 most of Africa had been divided into European colonies.

Common collocations

  • a former colony
  • a British colony
  • found a colony
  • colonial rule
  • colonial administration
  • colonialismThe policy or practice of a state taking control of other territories and peoples, settling or ruling them, and using their land and resources for its own benefit.
  • imperialismThe policy or practice of a state extending its power over other territories and peoples, through conquest, colonies or economic and political influence.
  • decolonizationThe process by which colonies became independent states, especially in Asia and Africa in the decades after the Second World War.
  • empireA large state or group of territories and peoples ruled by a single supreme authority, often an emperor or sultan, and usually built through conquest.

More terms: Empires, States and Rulers

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