Lost Colony

[ lawst kol-uh-nee, lost ]

noun

, American History.

1. a settlement of British colonists whom Walter Raleigh sent to Roanoke Island (now part of North Carolina) in 1587 and of whom no trace was found after 1591.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Lost Colony¹

First recorded in 1800–05

Example Sentences

“City of Quartz” is steeped in history; it begins with a visit to the lost colony of Llano, the short-lived Utopian settlement built in the Antelope Valley in 1914.

From Los Angeles Times

He called the community that lived in the area the “lost colony.”

From Washington Post

Tyler made the connection explicit by performing the gently drifting Neu! track “Weissensee” on that tour, and covering Rother’s “Karusell” on his EP “Lost Colony.”

From Washington Post

Hatteras Island, originally home to members of the Algonquin tribe, is near the site of the so-called lost colony of Roanoke.

From New York Times

A new book about the colonists, “The Lost Colony and Hatteras Island,” published in June and citing 10 years of excavations at nearby Hatteras Island, aims to put the mystery to bed.

From New York Times