colonize

[kol-uh-nahyz] /ˈkɒl əˌnaɪz/
verb (used with object), colonized, colonizing.
1.
to establish a colony in; settle:
England colonized Australia.
2.
to form a colony of:
to colonize laborers in a mining region.
verb (used without object), colonized, colonizing.
3.
to form a colony:
They went out to Australia to colonize.
4.
to settle in a colony.
Also, especially British, colonise.
Origin
1615-25; colon(y) + -ize
Related forms
colonizable, adjective
colonizability, noun
colonization, noun
colonizationist, noun
colonizer, noun
intercolonization, noun
intercolonize, verb, intercolonized, intercolonizing.
recolonization, noun
recolonize, verb (used with object), recolonized, recolonizing.
uncolonize, verb (used with object), uncolonized, uncolonizing.
well-colonized, adjective
Examples from the web for colonize
  • Among the challenges was how to colonize trees in the first place.
  • Lupines are not typically thought of as plants that colonize the middle of an empty landscape.
  • Indians have shown time and again, that when they enter an industry, they colonize and dominate it.
  • They refused to colonize other countries and they are not interested in a forever growing prosperity.
  • Dental researchers are making significant strides in identifying the microorganisms that colonize the mouth.
  • Various schemes have been proposed for how intelligent species might colonize space.
  • Mites make their home in your eyelash follicles, bacteria colonize your skin, and fleas and lice drop by for blood meals.
  • Animals begin to colonize the basalt volcanoes when they are still deep beneath the sea surface.
  • Humpbacks tend to re-colonize former parts of their range.
  • Fears about the crab's ability to colonize new areas are underlined by the staggering distances it can travel inland.
British Dictionary definitions for colonize

colonize

/ˈkɒləˌnaɪz/
verb
1.
to send colonists to or establish a colony in (an area)
2.
to settle in (an area) as colonists
3.
(transitive) to transform (a community) into a colony
4.
(of plants and animals) to become established in (a new environment)
Derived Forms
colonizable, colonisable, adjective
colonization, colonisation, noun
colonizer, coloniser, noun
Word Origin and History for colonize
v.

1620s, "to settle with colonists," from stem of Latin colonus "tiller of the soil, farmer" (see colony); in sense "to make another place into a national dependency" without regard for settlement there by 1790s (e.g. in reference to French activity in Egypt or British work in India), and probably directly from colony.

No principle ought ever to be tolerated or acted upon, that does not proceed on the basis of India being considered as the temporary residence of a great British Establishment, for the good government of the country, upon steady and uniform principles, and of a large British factory, for the beneficial management of its trade, upon rules applicable to the state and manners of the country. [Henry Dundas, Chairman of the East-India Company, letter, April 2, 1800]
Related: Colonized; colonizing.