colonize
verb
Simple meaning
To settle among and establish control over.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kahluhnyzSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɑlənaɪz
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Settle as colonists or establish a colony (in)
“The British colonized the East Coast.”
Settle as a colony; of countries in the developing world
“Europeans colonized Africa in the 17th century.”
transitive
To settle (a place) with colonists, and hence make (a place) into a colony.
transitive
To settle among and establish control over (the indigenous people of an area).
intransitive
To begin a colony or colonies.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
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More ways to use colonize
- “The British colonized the East Coast.”verb
- “Europeans colonized Africa in the 17th century.”verb
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.