/'kɒlənɪ; `kɑlənɪ/
n
1 (a) [C] country or area settled or conquered by people from another country and controlled by that country 殖民地
*a former British colony, eg Australia 前英国殖民地（如澳大利亚）. Cf 参看 protectorate 1.
(b) [CGp] group of people who settle in a colony 移居到殖民地的人群.
2 [CGp]
(a) group of people from a foreign country living in a particular city or country 移民群体; 侨民群体
*the American colony in Paris 巴黎的美国人区.
(b) group of people with the same occupation, interest, etc living together in the same place 住在同一地方有相同职业、兴趣等的人群
*an artists' colony 聚居的艺术家
* a nudist colony 裸体者群.
3 [CGp] (biology 生) group of animals or plants living or growing in the same place （生活或生长在同一地方的动物或植物的）群, 集群, 群体
*a colony of ants 蚁群
* a seal colony 海豹群.

npluralcolonies[C]
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: Old French;Origin: colonie, from Latin colonia, from colonus 'farmer, someone who develops a new place', from colere 'to prepare land for crops']
a country or area that is under the political control of a more powerful country, usually one that is far away
→colonial, colonize colonize
　Algeria was formerly a French colony.
→crown colony
one of the 13 areas of land on the east coast of North America that later became the United States
　Connecticut was one of the original colonies.
a group of people who are similar in some way and who live together, or the place where they live
　an artists' colony
　a leper colony
a group of animals or plants of the same type that are living or growing together
　a seal colony
　breeding colonies of rare birds