Standard Lemma guide

colonial

adj · noun · 13 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /kəˈləʊ.ni.əl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /kəˈloʊ.njəl/
  • General-American: /kəˈloʊ.ni.əl/
  • rhymes with -əʊniəl
  • CMU ARPABET: K AH0 L OW1 N IY0 AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of or pertaining to a colony.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Of or pertaining to a period when a country or territory was a colony.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Of or pertaining to the ideals of colonialism.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Of or relating to the original Thirteen Colonies of the USA.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adj

Meaning 5

Of or relating to the style of architecture prevalent at about the time of the Revolution.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adj

Meaning 6

Tending to form colonies (especially of cells).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: biology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

A person from a country that is or was controlled by another.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

A house that is built in a style reminiscent of the period of the colonization of New England.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

A coin or postage stamp issued by a colony.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

adjective

Meaning 10

of or relating to or characteristic of or inhabiting a colony

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

adjective

Meaning 11

of animals who live in colonies, such as ants

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

adjective satellite

Meaning 12

composed of many distinct individuals united to form a whole or colony

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • coral is a colonial organism

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: compound

Antonyms: none provided

13

noun

Meaning 13

a resident of a colony

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: resident, occupant, occupier

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kwelh1- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *kwélh1eti Proto-Italic *kwelō Latin colō Latin colōnus Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Latin colōniader. Middle English colane English colony Proto-Indo-European *h2el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālisbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al English -al English colonial From colony + -al.

Across languages

Translations

74 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: kolonial — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Arabic: اِسْتِعْمَارِيّ (istiʕmāriyy) — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Armenian: գաղութային (gaġutʻayin) — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Belarusian: каланія́льны (kalanijálʹny) — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Belarusian: колёнія́льны (koljonijálʹny) — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Bulgarian: колониа́лен (koloniálen) — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Catalan: colonial — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Chinese Mandarin: 殖民的 (zhímín de) — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Chinese Mandarin: 殖民地的 (zhímíndì de) — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Czech: koloniální — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Danish: kolonial — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Dutch: koloniaal — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Esperanto: kolonia — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Finnish: siirtomaa- — of or pertaining to a colony
  • French: colonial — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Galician: colonial — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Georgian: კოლონიური (ḳoloniuri) — of or pertaining to a colony
  • German: kolonial — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Greek: αποικιακός (apoikiakós) — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Hindi: औपनिवेशिक (aupniveśik) — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Ido: koloniala — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Italian: coloniale — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Latin: colōnicus — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Latin: colōniārius — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Latin: colōniālis — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Macedonian: колонија́лен (kolonijálen) — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Malay: jajahan — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Malay: koloni — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Malay: kolonial — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Norwegian Bokmål: kolonial — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Persian: استعماری (este'mâri) — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Polish: kolonialny — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Portuguese: colonial — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Romanian: colonial — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Russian: колониа́льный (koloniálʹnyj) — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Serbo-Croatian: ко̏лонија̄лан — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Serbo-Croatian: kȍlonijālan — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Slovak: koloniálny — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Slovene: kolonialen — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Spanish: colonial — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Swedish: kolonial — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Tagalog: sakupbayanin — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Tagalog: sakupin — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Turkish: kolonyal — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Tuvan: колониалдыг (kolonialdıg) — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Ukrainian: колоніа́льний (koloniálʹnyj) — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Urdu: استعماری (isti'mārī) — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Vietnamese: thực dân — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Yakut: колониальнай (kolonialʹnay) — of or pertaining to a colony
  • Bulgarian: колониа́лен (koloniálen) — of or pertaining to a period when a country or territory was a colony
  • Danish: kolonial — of or pertaining to a period when a country or territory was a colony
  • Esperanto: kolonia — of or pertaining to a period when a country or territory was a colony
  • French: colonial — of or pertaining to a period when a country or territory was a colony
  • Georgian: კოლონიური (ḳoloniuri) — of or pertaining to a period when a country or territory was a colony
  • German: kolonial — of or pertaining to a period when a country or territory was a colony
  • Greek: αποικιακός (apoikiakós) — of or pertaining to a period when a country or territory was a colony
  • Hindi: औपनिवेशिक (aupniveśik) — of or pertaining to a period when a country or territory was a colony
  • Ido: koloniala — of or pertaining to a period when a country or territory was a colony
  • Portuguese: colonial — of or pertaining to a period when a country or territory was a colony
  • Russian: колониа́льный (koloniálʹnyj) — of or pertaining to a period when a country or territory was a colony
  • Swedish: kolonial — of or pertaining to a period when a country or territory was a colony
  • Danish: kolonial — US: of or relating to the original thirteen colonies of the USA
  • French: colonial — US: of or relating to the original thirteen colonies of the USA
  • Portuguese: colonial — US: of or relating to the original thirteen colonies of the USA
  • Swedish: kolonial — US: of or relating to the original thirteen colonies of the USA
  • Bulgarian: колониа́лен (koloniálen) — US: of or relating to the style of architecture
  • French: colonial — US: of or relating to the style of architecture
  • Ido: koloniala — US: of or relating to the style of architecture
  • Portuguese: colonial — US: of or relating to the style of architecture
  • Russian: колониа́льный (koloniálʹnyj) — US: of or relating to the style of architecture
  • Swedish: kolonial — US: of or relating to the style of architecture
  • Galician: colono — person from a country that is or was controlled by another
  • Ido: koloniano — person from a country that is or was controlled by another
  • Portuguese: colono — person from a country that is or was controlled by another
Real reading context

colonial in complete knowledge articles