Search results for 'colony':

colony noun (colonies) 1 a a settlement abroad established and controlled by the founding country; b the settlers living there; c the territory they occupy. 2 a group of the same nationality or occupation forming a distinctive community within a city, etc • writers' colony. 3 zool a a group of animals or plants of the same species living together in close proximity, sometimes with physical connections between individual members, eg sponges, corals; b a large number of animals living together in a highly organized social group, eg bees, ants, termites. 4 bacteriol an isolated group of bacteria or fungi growing on a solid medium, usually from the same single cell.
ETYMOLOGY: 16c: from Latin colonia, from colonus farmer or tiller, from colere to cultivate or inhabit.