Online Etymology Dictionary

colonial (adj.): 1756, from Latin colonia (see colony) + -al (1), or directly from colony on model of baronoinal. Meaning "from or characteristic of America during colonial times" is from 1776. The noun meaning "inhabitant of a colony" is recorded from 1865.
colonialism (n.): 1853, "ways or speech of colonial persons," from colonial + -ism. Meaning "the system of colonial rule" is from 1886.
colonialist (n.): 1813, from colonial + -ist; cf. colonist.
colonialization (n.): 1965, noun of action from colonialize (1964); see colonial + -ize. Related: Decolonialize; decolonialization.
colonic (adj.): 1906, from colon (n.2) + adjectival ending -ic.
colonisation (n.): chiefly British English spelling of colonization; see also -ize.
colonist (n.): 1701, "colonizer," from colony + -ist.
colonization (n.): 1766, noun of action from colonize.
colonize (v.): 1620s, "to settle with colonists," from stem of Latin colonus "tiller of the soil, farmer" (see colony); in sense "to make another place into a national dependency" without regard for settlement there by 1790s (e.g. in reference to French activity in Egypt or British work in India), and probably directly from colony.
No principle ought ever to be tolerated or acted upon, that does not proceed on the basis of India being considered as the temporary residence of a great British Establishment, for the good government of the country, upon steady and uniform principles, and of a large British factory, for the beneficial management of its trade, upon rules applicable to the state and manners of the country. [Henry Dundas, Chairman of the East-India Company, letter, April 2, 1800]
Related: Colonized; colonizing.
colonnade (n.): 1718, from French colonnade, from Italian colonnato, from colonna "column," from Latin columna "pillar" (see hill).
colonoscopy (n.): by 1902 (earlier procto-colonoscopy, 1896; colonoscope attested from 1884), from colon (n.2) + -oscopy (see -scope).
colony (n.): late 14c., "ancient Roman settlement outside Italy," from Latin colonia "settled land, farm, landed estate," from colonus "husbandman, tenant farmer, settler in new land," from colere "to inhabit, cultivate, frequent, practice, tend, guard, respect," from PIE root *kwel- "move around" (source of Latin -cola "inhabitant;" see cycle (n.)). Also used by the Romans to translate Greek apoikia "people from home." Modern application dates from 1540s.
colophon (n.): 1774, "publisher's inscription at the end of a book," from Latin colophon, from Greek kolophon "summit, final touch" (see hill).
color (n.): early 13c., "skin color, complexion," from Old French color "color, complexion, appearance" (Modern French couleur), from Latin color "color of the skin; color in general, hue; appearance," from Old Latin colos, originally "a covering" (akin to celare "to hide, conceal"), from PIE root *kel- "to cover, conceal" (see cell).

For sense evolution, cf. Sanskrit varnah "covering, color," related to vrnoti "covers," and also see chroma. Meaning "visible color, color of something" is attested in English from c.1300. As "color as a property of things," from late 14c. Old English words for "color" were hiw ("hue"), bleo.
color (v.): late 14c.; see color (n.); earliest use is figurative. Related: Colored; coloring.
color blindness (n.): 1844, replacing Daltonism (after English chemist John Dalton, 1766-1844, who published a description of it in 1794); in figurative use, with reference to race or ethnicity, attested from 1866, American English. Related: color blind (adj.).
Colorado: U.S. state (organized as a territory 1861, admitted as a state 1876), named for the river, Spanish Rio Colorado, from colorado "ruddy, reddish," literally "colored," past participle of colorar "to color, dye, paint," from Latin colorare (see coloration).
coloration (n.): 1620s, from French coloration (16c.), from Late Latin colorationem (nominative coloratio) "act or fact of coloring," noun of action from past participle stem of Latin colorare "to color, to get tanned," from color (see color (n.)).
coloratura (n.): "Ornamental passages, roulades, embellishments, etc., in vocal music" [Elson], 1740, from Italian coloratura, literally "coloring," from Late Latin coloratura, from colorare "to color," from color (see color (n.)).
colorectal (adj.): by 1918, from comb. form of colon (n.2) + rectal.
colored (adj.): late 14c., past participle adjective from color (v.); in reference to "non-white skin," 1610s.
colorful (adj.): 1889, in figurative sense of "interesting," from color (n.) + -ful. Related: Colorfully.
coloring (n.): late 14c., "action of applying color," noun of action from color (v.). Figurative use by 1540s. Meaning "way something is colored" is early 15c. Coloring book is from 1931.
colorless (adj.): late 14c., from color (n.) + -less. Figurative sense of "lacking vividness" is recorded from 1861. Related: Colorlessness.
colors (n.): "flag of a regiment or ship" 1580s, from color (n.).
colossal (adj.): 1712 (colossic in the same sense is recorded from c.1600), from French colossal, from colosse, from Latin colossus, from Greek kolossos (see colossus).
Colosseum (n.): 1560s, Medieval Latin name for the classical Amphitheatrum Flavium (begun c.70 C.E.), noun use of neuter of adjective colosseus "gigantic;" perhaps a reference to the colossal statue of Nero that long stood nearby (see colossus).
colossus (n.): "gigantic statue," late 14c., from Latin colossus "a statue larger than life," from Greek kolossos "gigantic statue," of unknown origin, used by Herodotus of giant Egyptian statues, and used by Romans of the bronze Apollo at the entrance to the harbor of Rhodes. Figurative sense of "any thing of awesome greatness or vastness" is from 1794.
colostomy (n.): 1888, from colon (n.2) + Modern Latin -stoma "opening, orifice," from Greek stoma "opening, mouth" (see stoma).
colostrum (n.): 1570s, from Latin colostrum "first milk from an animal," of unknown origin.
colour: chiefly British English spelling of color (q.v.); for ending see -or. Related: Coloured; colouring; colourful; colours.
colposcopy (n.): 1940, from colpo-, Latinized comb. form of Greek kolpos "womb" (used from c.1900 in medical compounds in sense "vagina;" see gulf (n.)) + -oscopy (see -scope).
colt (n.): Old English colt "colt," originally "young ass," in Biblical translations also used for "young camel," perhaps from Proto-Germanic *kultaz (cf. Swedish dialectal kult "young boar, piglet; boy," Danish kuld "offspring, brood") and akin to child. Applied to persons from early 13c.
COLT'S TOOTH An old fellow who marries, or keeps a young girl, is ſaid to have a colt's tooth in his head. ["Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1796]
Colt (n.): type of revolver, 1838, originally the manufacture of U.S. gunsmith Samuel Colt (1814-1862).
coltish (adj.): late 14c., "wild, frisky," also in early use "lustful, lewd," from colt + -ish. Lit. sense of "pertaining to a colt" is recorded from 1540s.
columbarium (n.): "subterranean sepulchre in ancient Roman places with niches for urns holding remains," neuter of Latin columbarius, "dove-cote" (so called from resemblance), literally "pertaining to doves;" from columba "dove." Literal sense of "dove-cote" is attested in English from 1881.
Columbia: poetic name for United States of America, earlier for the British colonies there, 1730s, also the nation's female personification, from name of Christopher Columbus (also see Colombia) with Latin "country" ending -ia. A popular name for places and institutions in the U.S. in the post-Revolutionary years, when former tributes to king and crown were out of fashion: e.g. Columbia University (New York, U.S.) founded in 1754 as King's College; re-named 1784. Also District of Columbia (1791, as Territory of Columbia); "Hail, Columbia" (Joseph Hopkinson, 1798), Barlow's "Columbiad" (1809).
columbine (n.): c.1300, from Old French columbine "columbine," or directly from Medieval Latin columbina, from Late Latin columbina "verbena," fem. of Latin columbinus, literally "dove-like," from columba "dove." The inverted flower supposedly resembles a cluster of five doves. Also a fem. proper name; in Italian comedy, the name of the mistress of Harlequin.
Columbus: his name is Latinized from his native Italian Cristoforo Colombo, in Spanish Christobal Colon.
America was discovered accidentally by a great seaman who was looking for something else, and most of the exploration for the next fifty years was done in the hope of getting through or around it. [S.E. Morison, "The Oxford History of the United States," 1965]
column (n.): mid-15c., "vertical division of a page," also "a pillar, post," from Old French colombe (12c., Modern French colonne "column, pillar"), from Latin columna "pillar," collateral form of columen "top, summit," from PIE root *kel- "to project" (see hill). Sense of "matter written for a newspaper" dates from 1785.
columnar (adj.): 1728, from Late Latin columnaris "rising in the form of a pillar," from columna "column" (see column).
columnist (n.): 1920, from column in the newspaper sense + -ist.
com-: word-forming element usually meaning "with, together," from Latin com, archaic form of classical Latin cum "together, together with, in combination," from PIE *kom- "beside, near, by, with" (cf. Old English ge-, German ge-). The prefix in Latin sometimes was used as an intensive.

Before vowels and aspirates, reduced to co-; before -g-, assimilated to cog- or con-; before -l-, assimilated to col-; before -r-, assimilated to cor-; before -c-, -d-, -j-, -n-, -q-, -s-, -t-, -v- assimilated to con-.
coma (n.1): state of prolonged unconsciousness, 1640s, from Latinized form of Greek koma (genitive komatos) "deep sleep," of uncertain origin.
coma (n.2): "head of a comet," 1765, from Latin coma, from Greek kome "hair of the head," of unknown origin. Earlier in English as a botanical term for a tuft of hairs (1660s).
Comanche (n.): 1819, from Spanish, from a Shoshonean language, e.g. Ute kimánci "enemy, foreigner." Comanchero was a 19c. name given to Hispanic and American traders who dealt with the Comanches.
comatose (adj.): 1755, from Latinized form of Greek komat-, comb. form of koma (genitive komatos; see coma) + -ose (1). Perhaps immediately from French comateux. Transferred sense of "lethargic" is from 1828.
comb (n.): Old English camb "comb, crest, honeycomb" (later Anglian comb), from West Germanic *kambaz (cf. Old Saxon and Old High German camb, German Kamm, Middle Dutch cam, Dutch kam, Old Norse kambr), literally "toothed object," from PIE *gombhos, from root *gembh- "to bite, tooth" (cf. Greek gomphos "a molar tooth," Sanskrit gambha-s "tooth").
comb (v.): late 14c. (implied in past participle kombid), verb derived from comb (n.); replacing the former verb, Old English cemban, which however survives in unkempt. Related: Combed; combing.
combat (v.): 1560s, from Middle French combat (16c.), from Old French combattre (12c.), from Late Latin combattere, from Latin com- "with" (each other) (see com-) + battuere "to beat, fight" (see batter (v.)). Related: Combated; combating; combatted; combatting.