Britain

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹɪ.tən/, /ˈbɹɪ.tn̩/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹɪ.tn̩/, [ˈbɹɪ.ɾᵊn̩], [ˈbɹɪ.ʔᵊn̩]
• Rhymes: -ɪtən
• Hyphenation: Brit‧ain

Etymology 1

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. 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 Brittany. More at Britto.

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Proper noun

Britain (plural Britains)

2. The island of Great Britain, consisting of England, Scotland and Wales. [from 10th c.]
4. (loosely) The United Kingdom.
5. (now historical) Brittany. [from 13th c.]
6. (now historical) The British state and its dominions and holdings; the British Empire. [from 17th c.]
7. (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’.

8. (nonstandard) The British Isles.

Synonyms

• (island): Gramarye

Related terms

• Breton
• British
• Briton
• Britannia
• Brittany
• Battle of Britain
• Broken Britain

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)
• Bulgarian: Брита́ния f (Británija)
• Burmese: ဘိလပ် (my) (bhi.lap), ဗြိတိန် (bri.tin)
• Central Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} بەریتانیا (berîtanya)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 不列顛／不列颠 (bat¹ lit⁶ din¹), 不列颠 (bat¹ lit⁶ din¹)

  Mandarin: 不列顛／不列颠 (zh) (bùlièdiān), 不列颠 (Bùlièdiān)

• Czech: Británie (cs) f
• Danish: Storbritannien (da) (only full name is used for the island)
• Dutch: Britannië 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 f (británya)
• Hindi: ब्रिटेन (hi) (briṭen)
• Hungarian: Britannia (hu)
• Icelandic: Bretland (is) n
• Indonesian: Britania
• 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)
• Kyrgyz: Британия (Britaniya)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Lao: ບໍ​ລິ​ເຕນ (bǭ li tēn)
• Latin: Britannia (la) f
• Latvian: Britānija f
• Lithuanian: Britanija f
• Macedonian: Брита́нија f (Británija)
• Malay: Britania
• Maltese: Brittanja f
• Maori: Peretānia, Piritini
• Mongolian: Британи (Britani)
• Persian: بریتانیا (fa) (beritâniyâ), برطانیه (beretâniye) (obsolete)
• Polish: Brytania (pl) f
• Portuguese: Grã-Bretanha (pt) f
• Rapa Nui: Peretane
• Romanian: Britanie f
• Russian: Брита́ния (ru) f (Británija)
• Scots: Breetain
• Scottish Gaelic: Breatainn f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Британија f

  Roman: Britanija (sh) 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)
• Uzbek: Britaniya
• Vietnamese: đảo Anh (vi), Anh
• Welsh: Prydain (cy)

United Kingdom — see United Kingdom

Brittany — see Brittany

Etymology 2

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] 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 and R. T. Lambdin, Companion to Old and Middle English Literature, 2002, 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, The Faerie Queene, IV.11:

     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