Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - colony

 noun  (plural -nies)  Etymology: Middle English colonie, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French, from Latin colonia, from colonus farmer, colonist, from colere to cultivate — more at wheel  Date: 14th century  1.  a. a body of people living in a new territory but retaining ties with the parent state  b. the territory inhabited by such a body  2. a distinguishable localized population within a species a ~ of termites  3.  a. a circumscribed mass of microorganisms usually growing in or on a solid medium  b. the aggregation of zooids of a compound animal  4.  a. a group of individuals or things with common characteristics or interests situated in close association an artist ~  b. the section occupied by such a group  5. a group of persons institutionalized away from others a leper ~ a penal ~; also the land or buildings occupied by such a group