Etymograph

English

colony

Colony comes from Latin colōnus ‘farmer’, from colō ‘till, cultivate, worship’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁- ‘to turn’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷelh₁-‘to turn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷélh₁etireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷelō‘to inhabit’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolō‘till, cultivate, worship’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolōnus‘farmer’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolōnia
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500colane
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1649colony

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷelh₁-‘to turn’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷélh₁etireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷelō‘to inhabit’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolō‘till, cultivate, worship’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolōnus‘farmer’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcolōnia
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500colane
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1649colony

Earliest quotation: 1649, John Cleveland, Erected for That Incomparable and Glorious Monarch: “Such black Attendants Colonied thy Cell, / But for…”

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *kʷelō ‘to inhabit’

agriculture, cultivation, cultivate, aquaculture, subculture, monoculture, 64 more

through Latin colō ‘till, cultivate, worship’

culture, cultural, cult, kultur, coulee, 72 more

Today it means

noun A geographical area under the remote control of a country; especially to extract resources or exploit labor from that area.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁- / colony

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