EMPIRE
“a large, composite, multi-ethnic or multinational political unit, usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant centre and subordinate, sometimes far distant peripheries” [Stephen Howe, Empire: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, 30]


IMPERIALISM
"domination or control of one group over another" [Baumgart]

“The effective domination by a relatively strong state over a weaker people whom it does not control as it does its home population, or … the effort to secure such domination.” [Mary Ann Heiss, "The Evolution of the Imperial Idea and US National Identity," Diplomatic History 26, 4 (Fall 2002)]

“the process of constructing an empire” [Abernathy]

“the actions and attitudes which create or uphold [empires] – but also less obvious and direct kinds of control or domination by one people or country over others” [Howe]


COLONY
“a settlement established by emigration” [Pocock]

"any distant area subject to political rule or control by another state, usually European" [Howe]


COLONIALISM
“systems of rule by one group over another, where the first claims the right (a ‘right’ usually established by conquest) to exercise exclusive sovereignty over the second and to shape its destiny.  Usually, this political domination is ‘long-distance’: the rulers of one bit of land exercise rule over another, separate one, whether the latter is a neighbour or on the far side of the world.” [Howe]

COLONIZATION
“large-scale population movements, where the migrants maintain strong links with their or their ancestors’ former country, gaining significant privileges over other inhabitants of the territory by such links” [Howe]