Definition of: colony

(kol′ə·nē) noun plural ·nies
1. A body of emigrants or their descendants in a remote region under the control of a parent country. In Great Britain the term colony designates a region that has a responsible government, whether or not it has an elective legislature.
2. Any aggregation of individuals in a common group, as of alien residents in a country, or of bees, beavers, etc.
3. The territory occupied by early settlers or their descendants.
4. Biol. A group of organisms of the same species, usually from the same parent cell, functioning in close association and with varying degrees of independence, as certain bacteria, protozoans, and algae.
5. Ecol. a Two or more species of plants developing in a locality as a result of invasion. b A group of plants isolated from others of the same species, but growing in the same locality. [<L colonia <colonus farmer]