Meanings
plural colonialisms
- countableuncountableThe seizure of geographical area to extract its natural resources or exploit the labor of the indigenous peoples to remotely benefit a distant country.
Though most of the cases here cover European encounters with non-Europeans, it is not the intention of the book to give the impression that genocide is a function of European colonialism and imperialism alone.
2008 June 1, A. Dirk Moses, “Preface”, in Empire, Colony, Genocide: Conquest, Occupation, and Subaltern Resistance in World History, Berghahn Books, →ISBN, page x - colloquialcountablederogatoryoftenuncountableThe subjugation of a weaker country, population, or people by a dominant country, population, or people.
It was the racist, settler colonialism that created whiteness, that created blackness, half-caste, quarter-caste, octoroon, that saw mixed-race people as a third race.
2021 November 7, Claire [G.] Coleman, “Not quite blak enough: ‘The people who think I am too white to be Aboriginal are all white’”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 03 Dec 2021 - broadlycountablederogatoryuncountableAny form of foreign influence seen as undesirable.
- countableuncountableA colonial word, phrase, concept, or habit.
Although the settlement seems so far to have made but slow progress, there are many things which show that, to use a colonialism, "the place was going ahead."
1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 239 - countableuncountableColonial life.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*kʷelh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*kʷélh₁eti
- Proto-Italic*kʷelō
- Latincolō
- Latincolōnus
- Latincolōnia
- Middle Englishcolane
- Englishcolony
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
- Englishcolonial
- Englishcolonialism
Translations
Afrikaans kolonialisme
- kolonialismepolicy of authority over people or territories
Arabic اِسْتَعْمَارِيَّة
- اِسْتَعْمَارِيَّة (istaʕmāriyya)policy of authority over people or territories
Bengali উপনিবেশবাদ
- উপনিবেশবাদ (uponibeśbad)policy of authority over people or territories
Bulgarian колониали́зъм
- колониали́зъм (kolonialízăm)policy of authority over people or territories
Catalan colonialisme
- colonialismepolicy of authority over people or territories
Chinese Cantonese 殖民主義 /殖民主义
- 殖民主義 /殖民主义 (zik⁶ man⁴ zyu² ji⁶)policy of authority over people or territories
Chinese Mandarin 殖民主義 /殖民主义
- 殖民主義 /殖民主义 (zhímínzhǔyì)policy of authority over people or territories
Czech kolonialismus
- kolonialismuspolicy of authority over people or territories
Danish kolonialisme
- kolonialismepolicy of authority over people or territories
Dutch kolonialisme
- kolonialismepolicy of authority over people or territories
Esperanto koloniismo
- koloniismopolicy of authority over people or territories
Estonian kolonialism
- kolonialismpolicy of authority over people or territories
Finnish kolonialismi
- kolonialismipolicy of authority over people or territories
French colonialisme
- colonialismepolicy of authority over people or territories
German Kolonialismus
- Kolonialismuspolicy of authority over people or territories
Greek αποικιοκρατία, αποικισμός
- αποικιοκρατία (apoikiokratía)policy of authority over people or territories
- αποικισμός (apoikismós)policy of authority over people or territories
Hebrew קוֹלוֹנְיָאלִיזְם
- קוֹלוֹנְיָאלִיזְם (kolonyalízm)policy of authority over people or territories
Hindi उपनिवेशवाद
- उपनिवेशवाद (upniveśvād)policy of authority over people or territories
Hungarian gyarmatosítás, kolonializmus
- gyarmatosításpolicy of authority over people or territories
- kolonializmuspolicy of authority over people or territories
Icelandic nýlendustefna
- nýlendustefnapolicy of authority over people or territories
Indonesian kolonialisme
- kolonialismepolicy of authority over people or territories
Irish coilíneachas
- coilíneachaspolicy of authority over people or territories
Italian colonialismo
- colonialismopolicy of authority over people or territories
Japanese 植民地主義
- 植民地主義 (shokuminchishugi)policy of authority over people or territories
Korean 식민주의
- 식민주의 (singminjuui)policy of authority over people or territories
Latvian koloniālisms
- koloniālismspolicy of authority over people or territories
Lithuanian kolonializmas
- kolonializmaspolicy of authority over people or territories
Malay kolonialisme
- kolonialismepolicy of authority over people or territories
Norwegian Bokmål kolonialisme
- kolonialismepolicy of authority over people or territories
Polish kolonializm, kolonializm
- kolonializmpolicy of authority over people or territories
- kolonializmcolonial life
- kolonializmcolonial linguistic expression
Portuguese colonialismo
- colonialismopolicy of authority over people or territories
Punjabi ਉਪਨਿਵੇਸ਼ਵਾਦ, ਬਸਤੀਵਾਦ
- ਉਪਨਿਵੇਸ਼ਵਾਦ (upaniveśvād)policy of authority over people or territories
- ਬਸਤੀਵਾਦ (bastīvād)policy of authority over people or territories
Romanian colonialism
- colonialismpolicy of authority over people or territories
Russian колониали́зм
- колониали́зм (kolonialízm)policy of authority over people or territories
Slovak kolonializmus
- kolonializmuspolicy of authority over people or territories
Spanish colonialismo
- colonialismopolicy of authority over people or territories
Swahili ukoloni, beberu
- ukolonipolicy of authority over people or territories
- beberupolicy of authority over people or territories
- beberucolonial life
- beberucolonial linguistic expression
Swedish kolonialism
- kolonialismpolicy of authority over people or territories
Tagalog koloniyalisasyon, koloniyalismo
- koloniyalisasyonpolicy of authority over people or territories
- koloniyalismopolicy of authority over people or territories
- koloniyacolonial life
- buhay-koloniyacolonial life
- koloniyalisasyoncolonial life
- koloniyalismocolonial life
- koloniyalisasyoncolonial linguistic expression
- koloniyalismocolonial linguistic expression
Tamil குடியேற்றவியம்
- குடியேற்றவியம் (kuṭiyēṟṟaviyam)policy of authority over people or territories
Thai ลัทธิอาณานิคม
- ลัทธิอาณานิคม (lát-tí-aa-naa-ní-kom)policy of authority over people or territories
Turkish sömürgecilik, kolonicilik
- sömürgecilikpolicy of authority over people or territories
- kolonicilikpolicy of authority over people or territories
- kolonyalizmpolicy of authority over people or territories
- müstemlekecilikpolicy of authority over people or territories
Ukrainian колоніалі́зм
- колоніалі́зм (kolonialízm)policy of authority over people or territories
Urdu اِسْتِعْمارِیَت, اِسْتِعْمار
- اِسْتِعْمارِیَت (isti'māriyat)policy of authority over people or territories
- اِسْتِعْمار (isti'mār)policy of authority over people or territories
Vietnamese chủ nghĩa thực dân
- chủ nghĩa thực dânpolicy of authority over people or territories
Welsh gwladychiaeth
- gwladychiaethpolicy of authority over people or territories
Yiddish קאָלאָניאַליזם
- קאָלאָניאַליזם (kolonyalizm)policy of authority over people or territories
Cite this entry
colonialism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/colonialism
“colonialism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/colonialism. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “colonialism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/colonialism.
Source: colonialism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.