colonialism

colonial +‎ -ism

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kəˈləʊ.njə.lɪ.zəm/, /kəˈləʊ.ni.ə.lɪ.zəm/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /kəˈloʊ.njə.lɪ.zəm/, /kəˈloʊ.ni.ə.lɪ.zəm/

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colonialism (countable and uncountable, plural colonialisms)

1. The policy of a country seeking to extend or retain its authority over other people or territories, generally with the aim of economic dominance.
   • 2008 June 1, A. Dirk Moses, “Preface”, in Empire, Colony, Genocide: Conquest, Occupation, and Subaltern Resistance in World History, Berghahn Books, →ISBN, page x:

     Though most of the cases here cover European encounters with non-Europeans, it is not the intention of the book to give the impression that genocide is a function of European colonialism and imperialism alone.

2. A colonial word, phrase, concept, or habit.
   • 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 239:

     Although the settlement seems so far to have made but slow progress, there are many things which show that, to use a colonialism, "the place was going ahead."

3. Colonial life.

Borrowed from French colonialisme. Equivalent to colonial +‎ -ism.

colonialism n (uncountable)

1. colonialism