Britain

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈbɹɪ.tÉ™n/
• US IPA: /ˈbɹɪ.tnÌ©/, /ˈbɹɪ.dnÌ©/
• Rhymes: -ɪtÉ™n

Old English Breoton, Bryten etc., from Latin Britannia; later reinforced by Anglo-Norman Britaine, Old French Bretaigne, from Latin Brittannia, variant of Britannia, from Britannī (see Etymology 2, below).

Full definition of Britain

Proper noun

1. The island of Great Britain, consisting of England, Scotland and Wales. from 10th c.
2. (now historical) Brittany. from 13th c.
3. (now historical) The United Kingdom; the British state and its dominions and holdings; the British Empire. from 17th c.
4. (in the plural) The British Empire. from 19th c.
• 1874, The Times, 14 July 1874:The name of 'Britain' ... ought to answer every purpose, or if that be thought too condensed, it may be pluralized into ‘The Britains’.

Related terms

• Breton
• British
• Briton
• Brittania
• Brittany
• Beretania
• Broken Britain

From Latin Britannus (adjective and noun, plural Britannī), apparently from Brythonic (compare Old Welsh Priten).

Noun

1. (now rare, historical) An ancient Briton. from 15th c.
• 2002, L. C. Lambdin and R. T. Lambdin, Companion to Old and Middle English Literature, 2002, p. 12:The Britains’ struggles with the Scots and Picts ... led to the Britains asking the Romans for help in constructing a great wall.

Adjective

1. (obsolete) Briton; British. 16th-18th c.
• 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.11:mightie Albion, father of the bold
  And warlike people which the Britaine Islands hold ….