Phrase guide

penal colony

noun · 2 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

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A colonial territory used (mainly) for the detention and forced labor of criminals, typically where free labor is desperately scarce.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Australia was used as a penal colony by the United Kingdom in the 18th to 19th century.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a penal institution where prisoners are exiled (often located on an island from which escape is difficult or impossible)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: penal institution, penal facility

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

16 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: colònia penal — colonial territory
  • Chinese Mandarin: 流放地 (liúfàngdì) — colonial territory
  • Danish: straffekoloni — colonial territory
  • Dutch: strafkolonie — colonial territory
  • Dutch: colonie pénale — colonial territory
  • Finnish: rangaistussiirtola — colonial territory
  • Finnish: työsiirtola — colonial territory
  • German: Strafkolonie — colonial territory
  • Norwegian Bokmål: straffekoloni — colonial territory
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: straffekoloni — colonial territory
  • Russian: исправи́тельная коло́ния (ispravítelʹnaja kolónija) — colonial territory
  • Russian: штрафна́я коло́ния (štrafnája kolónija) — colonial territory
  • Spanish: colonia penal — colonial territory
  • Swedish: straffkoloni — colonial territory
  • Turkish: ceza kolonisi — colonial territory
  • Ottoman Turkish: پرانقه (pranka) — colonial territory