Britain
adj, name, noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 An ancient Briton. archaic, historical
"The Britains’ struggles with the Scots and Picts [...] led to the Britains asking the Romans for help in constructing a great wall."
- 1 Briton; British. obsolete
"[M]ightie Albion, father of the bold / And warlike people which the Britaine Iſlands hold."
- 1 The United Kingdom, a kingdom and country in Northern Europe including the island of Great Britain as well as Northern Ireland on the northeastern portion of the island of Ireland. broadly, countable, uncountable
"There’s a move in the islands to secede from Britain and join Norway or even Denmark — an Orkxit to follow Brexit."
- 2 Great Britain, a large island (sometimes also including some of the surrounding smaller islands) off the north-west coast of Western Europe, made up of England, Scotland, and Wales; especially (but not exclusively) during antiquity. countable, uncountable
- 3 England, Scotland and Wales in combination. countable, uncountable
- 4 Brittany. countable, obsolete, uncountable
- 5 The British Isles. countable, in-plural, uncountable
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- 6 The British state and its dominions and holdings; the British Empire. countable, historical, uncountable
- 7 The British Empire. countable, in-plural, uncountable
"The name of 'Britain' […] ought to answer every purpose, or if that be thought too condensed, it may be pluralized into ‘The Britains’."
Example
More examples"Many immigrants to Britain have come from Asia."
Etymology
From Middle English Britayne, Breteyn, from Anglo-Norman Bretaigne, Bretaine, from Latin Brittannia, variant of Latin Britannia, from Britannī; reinforced by native Old English Breten, from the same Latin source. Ultimately from Proto-Brythonic *Prɨdėn (“Britain”) from *Pritanī (also compare *Prɨdɨn (“Picts”) from *Pritenī), attested to in Ancient Greek as Πρεττανική (Prettanikḗ), compare Welsh Prydain. Doublet of Britannia and Brittany. More at Britto.
From Middle English brytayn, from Latin Britannus (adjective and noun, plural Britannī), apparently from Brythonic (compare Old Welsh Priten).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.