colony

Everyday

1. A group of animals or plants of one kind that live together: a colony of ants, a bat colony. tree →
2. A country or area ruled by another, usually faraway, country: the thirteen American colonies. tree →
3. A group of people living together in a new place, far from their home country. tree →
4. (science) A group of bacteria or mould growing together on a dish. tree →

In the lessons

In science lessons ants, bees, penguins and seals live in colonies; bacteria grow in colonies on agar plates. In history lessons Britain, France and Spain had colonies in America, Africa, Asia and Australia, and many later became independent. Phrases: an ant colony, a seal colony, a former colony, establish a colony.

Examples

• A colony of ants can have thousands of workers. tree →
• We saw a seal colony on the rocks. tree →
• The thirteen colonies became the United States. tree →
• Australia was once a British colony. tree →
• A bacteria colony grew on the dish in the lab. tree →
• Penguins nest in huge colonies. tree →
• The Cat cunningly resolved to destroy this chance-made colony. tree →

Note

Plural colonies (y to ies). Related: colonise, colonist, colonial. In history, colonies often took land from the people already living there; this caused great harm.