colony
/ˈkɒlənɪ/noun
(pl. -ies)
1
- a country or area under the full or partial political control of another country, typically a distant one, and occupied by settlers from that country殖民地。
1.1
- a group of people living in such a country or area, consisting of the original settlers and their descendants and successors（由最初的殖民者及其后裔和继承者组成的）殖民团, 移民队。
1.2
the colonies
all the foreign countries or areas formerly under British political control所有的原英国殖民地。
1.3
the colonies
the thirteen areas on the east coast of North America that gained independence from Britain and founded the United States of America（脱离英国统治获得独立、并创建美利坚合众国的北美洲东海岸的）十三州。
2
- a group of people of one nationality or race living in a foreign city or country一群（住在外国城市或国家的）同国籍（或种族）侨民：
the British colony in New York.
纽约的英国侨民。
2.1
- a place where a group of people with the same occupation or interest live together（有相同职业或兴趣的一群人的）聚居地, 聚居区：
a nudist colony.
裸体主义者聚居区。
3
- Biology a community of animals or plants of one kind living close together or forming a physically connected structure【生】集群, 群体：
a colony of seals.
海豹集群。
3.1
- a group of fungi or bacteria grown from a single spore or cell on a culture medium菌落。
词源
late Middle English （denoting a settlement formed mainly of retired soldiers, acting as a garrison in newly conquered territory in the Roman Empire）： from Latin colonia 'settlement, farm', from colonus 'settler, farmer', from colere 'cultivate'.