Colonialists

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. People or organizations who engage in the act of settling and exerting authority over another land, often resulting in the transformation of its social structure
2. Those who venture into new territories to establish political or economical dominance, commonly displacing local communities and traditions
3. People who establish control over foreign territories and influence or govern indigenous populations

Etymology: The root sits in "colony," which traces back through Latin "colonus," a farmer or settler who worked land, from the verb "colere," to cultivate or inhabit. That same root gave us "culture," "cultivate," and "agriculture," so a colonist was originally a tiller of soil before becoming a claimer of distant lands. The Latin "colonus" reached English through Middle English "colane" and was later reshaped into "colony." The word "colonialist" is a modern formation built from "colonial," itself an adjective drawn from "colony," plus the suffix "-ist," which marks a person who adheres to or practises something. Its parts thus describe someone who practises the politics of colonies. The suffix "-ist" entered English through Old French and Latin from Greek, where it marked agents of activities, as in "artist" or "novelist."

Synonyms: imperialists, settlers