colonize

Universal Words (BrE also colonise) verb [VN] 1 to take control of an area or a country that is not your own, especially using force, and send people from your own country to live there: The area was colonized by the Vikings. 2 (biology) (of animals or plants) to live or grow in large numbers in a particular area: The lower slopes are colonized by flowering plants. * Thousands of bats had colonized the ruins. colonization, colonisation noun [U]: the colonization of the 'New World' * plant colonization colonizer, coloniser noun