Britain

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹɪt.ən/, [ˈbɹɪt.n̩]

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹɪt.ən/, [ˈbɹɪɾ.ᵊn̩], [ˈbɹɪʔ.ᵊn̩]
• Rhymes: -ɪtən
• Hyphenation: Brit‧ain
• Homophone: Briton

Etymology 1

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.

Proper noun

Britain (countable and uncountable, plural Britains)

2. (loosely) The United Kingdom.
4. The island of Great Britain, consisting of England, Scotland and Wales, especially during antiquity. [from 10th c.]
5. England, Scotland and Wales in combination.
6. (obsolete) Brittany. [from 13th c.]
7. (in the plural) The British Isles.
8. (historical) The British state and its dominions and holdings; the British Empire. [from 17th c.]
9. (in the plural) The British Empire. [from 19th c.]
   • 1874 July 14, The Times:

     The name of 'Britain' […] ought to answer every purpose, or if that be thought too condensed, it may be pluralized into ‘The Britains’.

Synonyms

• (island): Gramarye

Derived terms

• Great Britain
• New Britain

Related terms

• Battle of Britain
• Breton
• Britannia
• British
• Briton, Britton
• Brittany
• Broken Britain
• proto-Britain

 

Descendants

• → Hawaiian: Pelekāne
• → Tokelauan: Peletānia

Translations

island — see also Great Britain,‎ British Isles

• Albanian: Britania f
• Amharic: ብሪታንያ (bəritanya)
• Arabic: بِرِيطانِيَا (ar) f (birīṭāniyā)
• Armenian: Բրիտանիա (Britania)
• Azerbaijani: Britaniya
• Belarusian: Брыта́нія f (Brytánija)
• Bengali: ব্রিটেন (briṭen), বিলাত (bn) (bilat)
• Bulgarian: Брита́ния f (Británija)
• Burmese: ဘိလပ် (my) (bhi.lap), ဗြိတိန် (bri.tin)
• Catalan: Gran Bretanya (ca) f (only full name is used for the island)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 不列顛／不列颠 (bat¹ lit⁶ din¹)

  Mandarin: 不列顛／不列颠 (zh) (bùlièdiān)

• Czech: Británie (cs) f
• Danish: Storbritannien (da) (only full name is used for the island)
• Dutch: Brittannië (nl) n
• Esperanto: Britio
• Estonian: Britannia (et)
• Faroese: Bretland n
• Finnish: Britannia (fi)
• French: Grande-Bretagne (fr) f (only full name is used for the island)
• Georgian: ბრიტანეთი (briṭaneti)
• German: Britannien (de) n
• Greek: Βρετανία (el) f (Vretanía)

  Ancient: Βρεττανία f (Brettanía)

• Hebrew: בְּרִיטַנְיָה (he) f (británya)
• Hindi: ब्रिटेन (hi) m (briṭen)
• Hungarian: Britannia (hu)
• Icelandic: Bretland (is) n
• Indonesian: Britania (id)
• Irish: an Bhreatain f
• Italian: Gran Bretagna (it) f (only full name is used for the island)
• Japanese: ブリテン (Buriten)
• Kazakh: Британия (Britaniä)
• Khmer: ប៊្រីតថេន (priittheen)
• Korean: 브리튼 (Beuriteun), 브리텐 (Beuriten) (North Korea)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} بەریتانیا (berîtanya)

  Northern Kurdish: Brîtanya (ku)

• Kyrgyz: Британия (Britaniya)
• Lao: ບໍ​ລິ​ເຕນ (bǭ li tēn), ບຣິເຕນໃຫຍ່ (ba ri tēn nyai)
• Latin: Britannia (la) f
• Latvian: Britānija f
• Lithuanian: Britanija f
• Macedonian: Брита́нија f (Británija)
• Malay: Britania
• Maltese: Brittanja f
• Maori: Peretānia, Piritini
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: Британи (Britani)

• Occitan: Grand Bretanha (oc) f (only full name is used for the island)
• Old English: Breten f
• Pashto: برتانيه (ps) f (bartānya), برطانيه f (bartānya), بريتانيا f (britāniyā)
• Persian: بریتانیا (fa) (beritâniyâ), برطانیه (beretâniye) (obsolete)
• Polish: Brytania (pl) f
• Portuguese: Bretanha (pt) f
• Rapa Nui: Peretane
• Romanian: Britania (ro) f
• Russian: Брита́ния (ru) f (Británija)
• Scots: Breetain
• Scottish Gaelic: Breatainn f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Брѝта̄нија f

  Roman: Brìtānija (sh) f

• Sicilian: Granni Britagna f, Britagna Granni f
• Sinhalese: බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය (britānya)
• Slovak: Británia f
• Slovene: Británija f
• Spanish: Gran Bretaña (es) f (only full name is used for the island)
• Tagalog: Bretanya
• Tajik: Британия (tg) (Britaniya), Бритониё (Britoniyo)
• Telugu: బ్రిటన్ (briṭan)
• Thai: บริเตน (brì-dteen)
• Turkish: Britanya (tr)
• Turkmen: Britaniýa
• Ukrainian: Брита́нія f (Brytánija)
• Urdu: برطانیہ m (bartānia)
• Uyghur: برىتانىيە (britaniye)
• Uzbek: Britaniya
• Vietnamese: đảo Anh (vi), Anh (vi)
• Welsh: Prydain (cy)

United Kingdom — see United Kingdom

Brittany — see Brittany

Etymology 2

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

Noun

Britain (plural Britains)

1. (now rare, historical) An ancient Briton. [from 15th c.]
   • 2002, L. C. Lambdin, R. T. Lambdin, Companion to Old and Middle English Literature, page 12:

     The Britains’ struggles with the Scots and Picts [...] led to the Britains asking the Romans for help in constructing a great wall.

Adjective

Britain (comparative more Britain, superlative most Britain)

1. (obsolete) Briton; British. [16th–18th c.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     mightie Albion, father of the bold / And warlike people which the Britaine Islands hold […].

See also

• Great Britain
• the British Isles
• the United Kingdom

Further reading

• Britain (placename) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• triabin