colonies
- 1Plural of colony.
Britain governed several colonies throughout the Caribbean.
Bacterial colonies appeared across the agar plate by morning.
Note
The y of colony becomes -ies, as it does after a consonant: one colony, two colonies. The plural carries every meaning of the singular: territories ruled from abroad and the settlers who hold them, communities of one nationality or occupation living apart, and in biology clusters of organisms or of cells grown together. Only the surrounding words tell a reader whether colonies are governed or cultured.
colonies is a form of colony
colony, noun: An area under the political control of another country, usually settled by people from that country or their descendants. Full entry
- Forms
- colonycolonies plural
- Spelling
- colony → colonies: change y to i, add -es
- Sound
- The ending sounds like /z/.
Use it in a sentence
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