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# colonise

verb (colonise, colonises, colonised, colonising); US spelling colonize

«colonise» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. To colonise a place means a country sends people to settle there and takes control of the land, often from the people already living there. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/colonise/#m1)
2. (science) When plants, animals or germs colonise a place, they spread into it and start living and growing there. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/colonise/#m2)

### In the lessons

In history lessons it tells how empires such as Britain, Spain and France took over lands in America, Africa, Asia and Australia, and how this often harmed the people who already lived there. In science it is used for living things moving into a new place: moss colonises bare rock, bacteria colonise a wound. Related words: colony, colonist, colonial, colonisation, decolonise.

### Examples

- Britain began to colonise Australia in 1788. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/colonise/#x1)
- Settlers from Europe colonised large parts of North America. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/colonise/#x2)
- The First Nations people did not invite anyone to colonise their land. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/colonise/#x3)
- Weeds quickly colonised the empty car park. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/colonise/#x4)
- Bacteria can colonise a cut if you do not clean it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/colonise/#x5)
- Some scientists dream of colonising Mars one day. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/colonise/#x6)
- Lichens are often the first living things to colonise bare rock. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/colonise/#x7)

### Note

UK, Australian, NZ and Irish spelling: colonise; US and usually Canadian: colonize. Past: colonised. Noun: colonisation; a person: colonist; the place: colony. Not the same as «colon» (the punctuation mark or part of the gut). Colonising is seen very differently by the settlers and by the people whose land was taken; good history tells both sides.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «colonise» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/colonise/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«colonise» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/colonise.html) on Mova free.