colonization

American  

[kahl-uhn-iz-ay-shuhn, -ahyz-] / ˌkɑl ən ɪzˈeɪ ʃən, -aɪz- /

noun

plural

colonizations

1. the act, on the part of a nation or government, of claiming and forcibly taking control of territory other than its own, usually sending or allowing its own people to settle there.

2. the act of compelling or inducing people to settle in a particular area for economic or political purposes.

3. Biology. the spreading of a species into a new habitat.

4. Microbiology. the multiplication of a microbe in or on another organism, usually without causing infection or disease.

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colonization Scientific  

/ kŏl′ə-nĭ-zā′shən /

1. The spreading of a species into a new habitat. For example, flying insects and birds are often the first animal species to initiate colonization of barren islands formed by vulcanism or falling water levels. The first plant species to colonize such islands are often transported there as airborne seeds or through the droppings of birds.

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Other Word Forms

• anti-colonization adjective
• co-colonization noun
• colonizationist noun
• decolonization noun
• neo-colonization noun
• non-colonization noun
• post-colonization adjective
• pre-colonization adjective
• pro-colonization adjective
• recolonization noun
• self-colonization noun
• semi-colonization noun

Explanation

Colonization is the act of setting up a colony away from one's place of origin. Remember when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock? That was the beginning of a period of colonization. You may have heard of an ant colony, which is a community of ants that decided to set up shop in a particular place; this is an example of ant colonization. With humans, colonization is sometimes seen as a negative act because it tends to involve an invading culture establishing political control over an indigenous population (the people living there before the arrival of the settlers).

Example Sentences

"We saw up to 100-fold differences in the amount of cholera colonization as a function of diet alone," Hsiao said.

From Science Daily • Apr. 7, 2026

"Not only were oysters harvested for food from the earliest days of colonization, but the reefs themselves were dredged and the shells crushed and burned to make lime for cement and mortar," she says.

From Science Daily • Apr. 6, 2026

While NASA’s goal is to establish more of an outpost dedicated to expanding the reach of the U.S., others are planning something straight out of the works of Andy Weir or Robert Heinlein: colonization.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 31, 2026

Three centuries of Danish colonization has spurred a range of resentments between the island’s Inuit residents and faraway Copenhagen.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 22, 2026

In the first two centuries of colonization, the border between natives and newcomers was porous, almost nonexistent.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann