plantation

1. (historical) The importation of large numbers of workers and soldiers to displace the local population, such as in medieval Ireland and in the Americas; colonization.Examples: "Had I plantation of this Iſle my Lord."countablehistoricaluncountable

2. (historical) A colony established thus.Examples: "Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (former official name of Rhode Island, United States)"; "The King of Beni, the Lord of seven Kingdomes hath written to mee for Baptisme : but I cannot forsake these two Kings till I have other helpe. This Countrey is as healthfull as any I ever came in, and Sierra Leona would be a fit place for a plantation of the Society : for which King Philip wrote to the Catholike King, offering a place to erect a Fort, and commending the largenesse, wholsomnesse, and fertilitie of his Countrey."; "All theſe Bell-flowers do grow in our Gardens, where they are cheriſhed for the beautie of their flowers. The Couentry Bels doe not grow wilde in any of the parts about Couentry, as I am credibly informed by a faithfull Apothecary dwelling there, called Maſter Brian Ball, but are nouriſhed in Gardens with them, as they are in other places. The laſt groweth neere the riuer of Canada, where the French plantation in America is ſeated."countablehistoricaluncountable