Britain
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
Middle English Breteyne, from Old French Bretaigne, from Latin Britannia, earlier Brittānia.
The Middle English term primarily referred to the duchy of Brittany, in later use specified as Little Britain or the less Britain, etc., imitating Middle Latin Britannia minor. The application of the simple name Britain (or The Britains) to Great Britain and the British Empire is modern, dating to after the formation of the "Kingdom of Great Britain" by the Act of Union of 1707. The legend Brittaniarum rex "king of the Britains" appears on coins from the reign of George III, beginning in 1816, but modern use consciously harks back to the style of rex Britanniae "king of Britain" used in the Anglo-Saxon period (8th century, see bretwalda).
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Proper noun
Britain
- the island of Great Britain.
- The United Kingdom.
- singular (historically) Brittany.
- singular (historically) the British Empire.
- plural (historically, rarely) the British Empire
- The name of 'Britain' [...] ought to answer every purpose, or if that be thought too condensed, it may be pluralized into 'The Britains'. (The Times, 16 July 1874, 10/6, cited after OED).
- (countable) (historically, rarely) a Briton
- The Britains' struggles with the Scots and Picts [...] led to the Britains asking the Romans for help in constructing a great wall. (L. C. Lambdin and R. T. Lambdin, Companion to Old and Middle English Literature, 2002, p. 12.)
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
island
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United Kingdom — see United Kingdom
Brittany — see Brittany
[edit] See also
- Great Britain
- the British Isles
- the United Kingdom
