Definition: [Merriam-Webster] 

1. an area over which a foreign nation or state extends or maintains control; 

2. a group of people who settle together in a new place; 

3. a distinguishable localized population of a species or type of organism; 

4. a group of individuals or things with common characteristics or interests living in close association;

5. a group of persons institutionalized away from others. 

（殖民地、（某一类人的）聚居区、（生物）居住在一起的群体、群落）

Example:

America used to be a British colony.

美国曾经是英国的殖民地。

Different animals in the colony had different manifestations of the disease.

同一群体的不同动物对同一疾病有不同的表现形式。

The islands are famed for their colonies of sea birds.

这些岛屿因有成群的海鸟居住而闻名。

a leper colony

麻风病人隔离区/麻风村

a penal colony

罪犯流放地（清代的“宁古塔”）