Meanings
nounpenal colony (plural penal colonies)
plural penal colonies
- A colonial territory used (mainly) for the detention and forced labor of criminals, typically where free labor is desperately scarce.
Australia was used as a penal colony by the United Kingdom in the 18th to 19th century.
1 more example
They may end by banishing me / To the penal colony / They are thinking of pretty soon / Establishing on the moon.
1962, Robert Frost, “Some Science Fiction”, in In the Clearing, New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, page 89
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Translations
Catalan colònia penal
- colònia penalcolonial territory
Chinese Mandarin 流放地
- 流放地 (liúfàngdì)colonial territory
Danish straffekoloni
- straffekolonicolonial territory
Dutch strafkolonie, colonie pénale
- strafkoloniecolonial territory
- colonie pénalecolonial territory
Finnish rangaistussiirtola, työsiirtola
- rangaistussiirtolacolonial territory
- työsiirtolacolonial territory
German Strafkolonie
- Strafkoloniecolonial territory
Norwegian Bokmål straffekoloni
- straffekolonicolonial territory
Russian исправи́тельная коло́ния, штрафна́я коло́ния
- исправи́тельная коло́ния (ispravítelʹnaja kolónija)colonial territory
- штрафна́я коло́ния (štrafnája kolónija)colonial territory
Spanish colonia penal
- colonia penalcolonial territory
Swedish straffkoloni
- straffkolonicolonial territory
Turkish ceza kolonisi
- ceza kolonisicolonial territory
Cite this entry
APA
penal colony. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/penal%20colony
MLA
“penal colony.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/penal%20colony. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “penal colony,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/penal%20colony.
Source: penal colony on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.