Cologne | Meaning & Concept [Explained]

We explain what a colony is, the origin of the term and what colonization is. Also, colony in biology and other meanings.

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What is a colony?

Although the term colony today has several different meanings, which vary according to its context of use, in general terms they can all be traced in one way or another to a common starting point, which we must look for in the very origin of this word.

This story begins with the Latin term colerewhich we can translate today as “inhabit” and at the same time as “cultivate”. These senses are different but are strongly connected, since the idea of living in the same place throughout one's life was born with the invention of agriculture in the distant Neolithic, about 10,000 years ago.

From the Latin verb colereIn any case, it was obtained colonusthat is, “settler”: one dedicated to populating and cultivating a portion of land. Wherever there were several of these colonusa colony began to exist, a term used by the ancient Romans for any urban foundation that their civilization established in barbarian territories, that is, in foreign territories.

That is precisely the main meaning of the word colony: an urban settlement on new land which is largely dependent on another distant urban center that governs it (a metropolis).

This sense becomes very clear if we think about the modern meaning of colonize: creating colonies. Colonizers are those who entered foreign lands and founded new sites of their culture. as happened very often in the history of humanity.

The Romans, for example, were great colonizers, who took their language and customs to the different corners of the world to which they expanded their empire. Rome, the capital of the empire, remained the metropolis, and from there the emperor ruled the numerous Roman colonies.

Another possible example is the European Empires of the Modern Age, which settled in America, Asia and Africa for colonial purposes, that is, to establish settlements under their control and impose social and economic norms on the inhabitants of foreign lands. , linguistic and cultural that suited the metropolis.

Many former colonies are now independent countries who fought to separate themselves administratively from the metropolis and free themselves from colonial laws, which normally concentrated wealth and power in the metropolis, subjecting the colonies and colonial citizens to a state of inferiority.

Colony in biology

penguin biology colony — Penguins form colonies to better defend themselves from predators.

The term colony, whose etymological and historical origin we have just learned, was loaned to biology, which uses it to designate a set of living beings of the same species, which settle in a defined territory to coexist under cooperative principles.

This is a behavior observed both in plants and animals, as well as in microscopic beings, but it should not be confused with multicellularity: in a colony, all living beings fulfill the ordinary functions of a living being, and in some cases they could even leave the colony at a given time. In others, however, the colonies remain together for life.

It is known that corals form underwater colonies, for example, as do mussels, anchoring themselves to submerged rocks. Another example of a colony is that of penguins, which live together to better defend themselves from their predators, beavers, or the so-called eusocial insects: bees, termites, ants, capable of colonizing a space by literally building a nest in its surface.

Other meanings of the term

In addition to the above, the term colony is used in more specific contexts, with a specific meaning, such as:

Colony as a synonym for neighborhood. In some Spanish-speaking countries, such as Mexico, the territorial and political subdivisions of the same city are known as “colonies” instead of the traditional term “neighborhood,” used in a good number of Spanish-speaking countries. Hispanic Thus, in Mexico City there are Colonia Polanco, Colonia Roma, Colonia Nápoles, Colonia del Valle, etc.
Cologne as perfume. In many countries, “cologne” or “cologne water” is used as a synonym for “perfume”, and the explanation for this is found in the name of the oldest perfume in history, created in a German city called Köln, that is , Cologne. The product was created in the 18th century and was called eau de cologne in French or Kölnisch Wasser in German, that is, water (the German city of) Cologne.
Cologne, the German city. Another curious fact that involves this German city is the origin of its name: it was founded, precisely, as a Roman colony in the year 38 BC. C., dedicated to the Empress Agrippina, wife of Claudius and mother of Nero. His initial name was Claudia Ara Agrippinensium Colonybut as time went by, only the first term remained.