definition 1: of or related to a colony or colonies. India and South Africa were once part of the British colonial empire. definition 2: of or related to the thirteen British colonies that became the United States, or to the period before they became independent.

A colony is a group of people from one country who build a settlement in another territory, or land. They claim the new land for the original country, and the original country keeps some control over the colony. The settlement itself is also called a colony.

Colonial means having to do with a colony. Colonial land is land that belongs to the colony. A colonist is sometimes called a colonial. The philosophy of having colonies is called colonialism.