colonization

noun

col·​o·​ni·​za·​tion ˌkä-lə-nə-ˈzā-shən 

variants also British colonisation

plural colonizations

1

: an act or instance of colonizing: such as

a

: the establishing of a colony (see colony sense 1) : subjugation of a people or area especially as an extension of state power

The news arrives at a time of debate over how museums should handle artifacts acquired through colonization and conquest.

—Isis Davis-Marks

"… in contrast to their earlier colonization of the Caribbean, the Spanish encountered highly urbanized civilizations in Mesoamerica and continually equated them with those of the Islamic and Greco-Roman Mediterranean."

—David Carballo

b

: migration to and settlement in an inhabited or uninhabited area

the colonization of space/Mars

c(1)

biology : the spread and development of an organism in a new area or habitat

The colonization of land by eukaryotes probably was facilitated by a partnership (symbiosis) between a photosynthesizing organism … and a fungus.

—Daniel S. Heckman et al.

(2)

medical : the presence and multiplication of a microorganism (such as a bacterium) in or on a host or an inanimate object or surface

It is important to reassess wounds frequently to determine if there is colonization of bacteria within the wound.

—Emergency Medicine Reports

Adhesion to the intestinal epithelial cells is considered as necessary for probiotic microorganisms to colonize the large intestine, and colonization is important for beneficial health effects such as modulation of the immune system …

—O. D. Amund

… they significantly reduced the rate of bacterial colonization of the devices from 30% to 9% and cut the rate of infection in patients from 4% to 0.

—Carol Potera

d

: the act or practice of appropriating something that one does not own or have a right to

… the pop culture discourse is more open to considering the fraught dynamic of Western colonization of music rooted in Africa than it's ever been.

—Matthew Ismael Ruiz

It's a strange objection from someone who rails against the growing blandness of New York—the chain stores and suburban sensibilities, the colonization by the rich, the boring, the feloniously ahistoric.

—Ginia Bellafante

2

: the state of being colonized : subjugation by a foreign power

"If I am fighting our struggle on Indigenous territories, then I must also understand and be in solidarity with Indigenous struggles against colonization. To imagine our freedom without first recognizing and fighting for Indigenous sovereignty is impossible."

—El Jones

colonizationist

ˌkä-lə-nə-ˈzā-sh(ə-)nist 

noun

also British colonisationist

plural colonizationists

Examples of colonization in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

By placing natural resources from Pramoedya’s novel in dialogue with the oil barrels of Santalum Album Family, Ade drew a line linking Dutch colonization and Suharto’s more recent extractive policies, showing how authoritarian regimes replay the image of their previous masters. —Hung Duong, Artforum, 1 Nov. 2024

In part, the dominance of beef in American cuisine can be traced to settler colonialism, a form of colonization in which settlers claim – and then transform – lands inhabited by Indigenous people. —Hannah Cutting-Jones, The Conversation, 23 Oct. 2024

In Latest 2 Surveys—As Most Polls Show Razor-Thin Race ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ Reviews Secure A 100% Rotten Sony Spider-Verse However, much of this unique habitat has been continuously cleared for plantations like coffee, cardamom and ginger, since British colonization. —Scott Travers, Forbes, 27 Oct. 2024

The country’s melting pot of cultures tells a myriad of stories—shipwrecks, enslavement, colonization, and displacement—all of which have shaped its complex history. —Shelby Stewart, Essence, 24 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1744, in the meaning defined at sense 1