Crown Colony
1
8.2
- noun
- Archaic
:
Colonia de la Corona
- As a British Crown Colony, Hong Kong inherited many British institutions.
- British Crown Colony
- Crown Colony of Hong Kong
Examples
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All economic activity that depended on Hong Kong's unique status as a British Crown Colony in Asia will be gone as of 1997, regardless of Beijing's promise of "fifty years, no change."
Academic text (1990) -
Hong Kong's projected surrender to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1997 has resulted in much debate as to the future of the Crown Colony under Communist rule.
Academic text (1990) -
And now it is a British Crown Colony.
-
This is a Crown colony, you know.
-
Yet its years as a British Crown Colony have made it a distinct entity.
Academic text (1990) -
The advantages that Hong Kong gained through being the last significant British Crown Colony in Asia were numerous.
Academic text (1990) -
In other words, much of Hong Kong's early success derived not only from its high degree of economic freedom, but also from its status as a British Crown Colony.
Academic text (1990) -
On 1 July 1997, the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong will become a Special Administrative Region and "an inalienable part of the People's Republic of China (PRC)."
Academic text (1990) -
The city—specifically the districts of Kowloon and Central—teems as an Asian city is supposed to, like Bombay, as the Indian woman who sat next to me on the flight from San Francisco observed, except for the Crown Colony's wealth.
Academic text (1992) -
As a British Crown Colony, Hong Kong inherited many British institutions.
Synonyms
96
3.3
An area ruled by a more powerful foreign country
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally clear: 'Crown' (the monarch/state) + 'colony' (a territory governed by another power) yields a colony belonging to or governed by the Crown. A B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the basic meaning (a colony under the monarch/state), even if they might not know the precise administrative nuances.
Etymology
The name Crown Colony comes from the picture of a crown, meaning the king or queen, directly holding a colony, a territory. So it means a colony 'ruled directly' by the British monarch rather than by local leaders.