colony [LME] This is a direct borrowing of Latin colonia ‘farm, settlement’, particularly one of veteran soldiers in parts of the Roman Empire, a sense preserved in the German city of Cologne, founded as Colonia Agrippina, and the English city of Lincoln, once Lindum Colonia. Colonia was based on colere ‘cultivate, inhabit’ (see also culture). Colonize is early 16th century. Colonial [L18th] originally referred to the thirteen British colonies in what became the USA and is now frequently derogatory, while colonialism [M19th] has an even worse reputation.