colonialism

/kəˈləʊ.njə.lɪ.zəm/

//kəˈləʊ.njə.lɪ.zəm// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"colonialism" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“colonialism” has 16 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #18,791. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#18,791
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
16
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The policy of a country seeking to extend or retain its authority over other people or territories, generally with the aim of economic dominance.

Corpus desk

Index EN-colonialism · colonialism · English

colonialism · rank #18,791 · 16 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #18,791
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 16 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Clifton

Nearest frequency peer: Clifton (-2 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “colonialism”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “colonialism” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for colonialism
PropertyValue
Headwordcolonialism
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kəˈləʊ.njə.lɪ.zəm/
Letters11
Frequency rank#18,791
Misspellings tracked16
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “colonialism”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).colonialismlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “Clifton” (#18,789), “compromising” (#18,793), “corvette” (#18,794). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “colonialism” is #18,791. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 16 spelling variants around colonialism (IPA /kəˈləʊ.njə.lɪ.zəm/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #18,791 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for colonialism, with forms such as "ccolonialism", "cloonialism", and "collonialism". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From colonial + -ism. The correct English form is colonialism, spelled C-O-L-O-N-I-A-L-I-S-M.

Definition

  1. 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.
  2. 2
    Any form of foreign influence seen as undesirable.
  3. 3
    A colonial word, phrase, concept, or habit.
  4. 4
    Colonial life.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how colonialism appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. 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. It was the racist, settler colonialism that created whiteness, that created blackness, half-caste, quarter-caste, octoroon, that saw mixed-race people as a third race.

Etymology

From colonial + -ism.

This word in other languages

colonialismo(Español)colonialisme(Français)Kolonialismus(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccolonialism
  • cloonialism
  • collonialism
  • colnoialism
  • coloinalism
  • colonailism
  • coloniailsm
  • colonialims
  • colonialismm
  • colonialissm
  • coloniallism
  • colonialsim
  • colonilaism
  • colonnialism
  • coolnialism
  • oclonialism

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of colonialism - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ccolonialism1cloonialism2collonialism1colnoialism2coloinalism2colonailism2coloniailsm2colonialims2
Edit distance from "colonialism"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "colonialism"?
"colonialism" is spelled C-O-L-O-N-I-A-L-I-S-M. The IPA pronunciation is /kəˈləʊ.njə.lɪ.zəm/.
What does "colonialism" mean?
As a noun, "colonialism" means: The policy of a country seeking to extend or retain its authority over other people or territories, generally with the aim of economic dominance.
What are common misspellings of "colonialism"?
Common misspellings include "ccolonialism", "cloonialism", "collonialism", "colnoialism", "coloinalism". The correct spelling is "colonialism".
How do you pronounce "colonialism"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "colonialism" is /kəˈləʊ.njə.lɪ.zəm/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "colonialism"?
From colonial + -ism. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "colonialism", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

cheerleader#18,784disgraceful#18,806exponential#18,820archipelago#18,759

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (16 here; floor ≥5).

handwritten16 variantsshowcasing16 variantspassionately16 variantsprecedence16 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list