noun
colony
KAH-luh-nee/ˈkɑːləni/
A group living together in a shared location.
An ant colony lives in a network of connected underground chambers.
Etymology
Colonia named settled or cultivated land. The word came to describe the community inhabiting a new place while remaining subject to its homeland, shifting attention from the settlement to its inhabitants.
In context
Our unlikely heroines are fire ants, a colony several hundred thousand strong. Rapacious, tenacious and industrious, they are impossible to eradicate as long as their queen is alive.
More examples
- A colony of penguins nests along the rocky shore.
- Bacterial colonies grow on the surface of the dish.
- She lives in an artists' colony near the coast.
Forms
colony · colonies