Etymology

decolonization

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Today it means: The freeing of a colony etc from dependent status by granting it independence. Full definition →

English colonization ← Middle English colane ← Latin colōnia
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*de
  2. Proto-Indo-European*déh₁
  3. Proto-Italic*dē
  4. Latindē
  5. Latindē-
  6. Englishde-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*kʷelh₁-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*kʷélh₁eti
  9. Proto-Italic*kʷelō
  10. Latincolō
  11. Latincolōnus
  12. Latincolōnia
  13. Middle Englishcolane
  14. Englishcolony
  15. Englishcolonize
  16. Englishcolonization
  17. English todaydecolonization

From de- + colonization.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.