Definition of "colonus" [colonus]

• A colonist. (noun)
• Under the later Roman empire, a cultivator bound to the soil; an agricultural serf. (noun)

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "The term colony comes from the Latin word colonus, meaning farmer."
• "Non hic colonus domicilium habeo, sed topiarii in morem, hinc inde florem vellico, ut canis Nilum lambens."
• "Perhaps I am a farmer myself — an innocent colonus; and instead of being able to get to church with my family, have to see squadrons of French dragoons thundering upon my barley, and squares of English infantry forming and trampling all over my oats."