“Colonize” or “Colonise”

Language

Colonize and colonise are both English terms.

Usage

Colonize is predominantly used in 🇺🇸 American (US) English (en-US) while colonise is predominantly used in 🇬🇧 British English (used in UK/AU/NZ) (en-GB).

In terms of actual appearance and usage, here's a breakdown by country, with usage level out of 100 (if available) 👇:

Term	US	UK	India	Philippines	Canada	Australia	Liberia	Ireland	New Zealand	Jamaica	Trinidad & Tobago	Guyana
colonize	98	42	49	96	91	32	0	56	49	79	100	0
colonise	2	58	51	4	9	68	0	44	51	21	0	0

• In the United States, there is a preference for "colonize" over "colonise" (98 to 2).
• In the United Kingdom, there is a 58 to 42 preference for "colonise" over "colonize".
• In India, there is a 51 to 49 preference for "colonise" over "colonize".
• In the Philippines, there is a preference for "colonize" over "colonise" (96 to 4).
• In Canada, there is a preference for "colonize" over "colonise" (91 to 9).
• In Australia, there is a 68 to 32 preference for "colonise" over "colonize".
• In Liberia, there is not enough data to determine a preference between "colonize" and "colonise".
• In Ireland, there is a preference for "colonize" over "colonise" (56 to 44).
• In New Zealand, there is a 51 to 49 preference for "colonise" over "colonize".
• In Jamaica, there is a preference for "colonize" over "colonise" (79 to 21).
• In Trinidad & Tobago, there is a preference for "colonize" over "colonise" (100 to 0).
• In Guyana, there is not enough data to determine a preference between "colonize" and "colonise".

Examples

Below, we provide some examples of when to use colonize or colonise with sample sentences.

Trends

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