colony

/ˈkɒl.ə.ni/

//ˈkɒl.ə.ni// noun

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

"colony" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“colony” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,866. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,866
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
18
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A geographical area under the remote control of a country; especially to extract resources or exploit labor from that area.

Corpus desk

Index EN-colony · colony · English

colony · rank #5,866 · 9 variants · 18 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,866
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 18 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH climbing

Nearest frequency peer: climbing (-1 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 “colony”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “colony” 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

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

colony vs coon
67% similar
colony vs color
67% similar
colony vs corny
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for colony
PropertyValue
Headwordcolony
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkɒl.ə.ni/
Letters6
Frequency rank#5,866
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs18
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “colony”

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).colonylands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “climbing” (#5,865), “complaining” (#5,867), “chasing” (#5,864). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “colony” is #5,866. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around colony (IPA /ˈkɒl.ə.ni/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,866 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for colony, with forms such as "ccolony", "cloony", and "collony". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 18 confusable-pair relationships, "coon", "color", "corny", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English colane, colonye, from Latin colōnia (“colony”), from colōnus (“farmer; colonist”), from colō (“till, cultivate, worship”), from earlier *quelō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- (“to move; to turn (around)”). Doublet of Cologne, Colonia, a… The correct English form is colony, spelled C-O-L-O-N-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A geographical area under the remote control of a country; especially to extract resources or exploit labor from that area.
  2. 2
    A group of people who settle an area and maintain ties to their country of origin.
  3. 3
    A group of people with similar interests, occupations, or characteristics, living in a particular area; the area such people occupy.
  4. 4
    A group of organisms of same or different species living together in close association.
  5. 5
    An apartment complex or neighborhood.
  6. 6
    A local group of Beaver Scouts.
  7. 7
    A potential new chapter of a fraternity or sorority awaiting official recognition from their headquarters.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Much of the eastern United States was formerly a British colony; other areas were French, Spanish, Dutch, or Swedish colonies.
  2. Bermuda is a crown colony of Great Britain.

Etymology

From Middle English colane, colonye, from Latin colōnia (“colony”), from colōnus (“farmer; colonist”), from colō (“till, cultivate, worship”), from earlier *quelō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- (“to move; to turn (around)”). Doublet of Cologne, Colonia, and Köln.

This word in other languages

colonia(Español)colonie(Français)Kolonie(Deutsch)colônia(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccolony
  • cloony
  • collony
  • colnoy
  • colonny
  • colonyy
  • coloyn
  • coolny
  • oclony

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of colony - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ccolony1cloony2collony1colnoy2colonny1colonyy1coloyn2coolny2
Edit distance from "colony"

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 "colony"?
"colony" is spelled C-O-L-O-N-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkɒl.ə.ni/.
What does "colony" mean?
As a noun, "colony" means: A geographical area under the remote control of a country; especially to extract resources or exploit labor from that area.
What words are commonly confused with "colony"?
"colony" is commonly confused with "coon", "color", "corny". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "colony"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "colony" is /ˈkɒl.ə.ni/. 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 "colony"?
From Middle English colane, colonye, from Latin colōnia (“colony”), from colōnus (“farmer; colonist”), from colō (“till, cultivate, worship”), from earlier *quelō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- (“to move; to turn (around)”). Doublet of Cologne, ... 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 "colony", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

banner#5,857divide#5,876Easter#5,877Arabia#5,854

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

cookies9 variantsentity9 variantsStuart9 variantsskilled9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list