English
Satellite image showing most of the British Isles.
Pronunciation
Proper noun
the British Isles pl
- (geography) A group of islands off the northwest coast of mainland Europe, including Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Wight, the Isles of Scilly, the Isle of Man, the Outer Hebrides, the Inner Hebrides, the Orkney Islands, the Shetland Islands and many other smaller islands. Use may include the Channel Islands, although these are physically closer to mainland Europe.
Usage notes
The term is sometimes seen as politically outdated, particularly in relation to Ireland, because the majority of Ireland is no longer (since 1922) part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Synonyms
See Thesaurus:British Isles.
Translations
group of islands
- Afrikaans: Britse Eilande pl
- Arabic: اَلْجُزُر اَلْبِرِيطَانِيَّة f pl (al-juzur al-biriṭāniyya)
- Armenian: Բրիտանական կղզիներ (hy) (Britanakan kġziner)
- Basque: Britainiar uharteak
- Belarusian: Брыта́нскія астравы́ m pl (Brytánskija astravý)
- Bulgarian: Брита́нски о́строви m pl (Británski óstrovi)
- Catalan: illes Britàniques (ca) f pl
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 不列顛諸島／不列颠诸岛 (bùlièdiān Zhūdǎo), 不列颠诸岛 (Bùlièdiān zhūdǎo), 英倫諸島／英伦诸岛 (Yīnglún Zhūdǎo), 英伦诸岛 (Yīnglún zhūdǎo), 不列顛群島／不列颠群岛 (bùlièdiān Qúndǎo), 不列颠群岛 (Bùlièdiān qúndǎo)
- Czech: Britské ostrovy m pl
- Danish: Britiske Øer c pl
- Dutch: Britse Eilanden pl
- Esperanto: Britaj Insuloj
- Estonian: Briti saared
- Finnish: Britteinsaaret (fi)
- French: les îles Britanniques (fr) f pl
- Galician: Illas Británicas f pl
- Georgian: ბრიტანეთის კუნძულები (briṭanetis ḳunʒulebi)
- German: Britische Inseln (de) f pl
- Greek: Βρετανικά Νησιά pl (Vretaniká Nisiá)
- Hebrew: האיים הבריטיים m pl (hiyim he-britiyim)
- Hindi: ब्रिटिश द्वीप (briṭiś dvīp)
- Hungarian: Brit-szigetek
- Icelandic: Bretlandseyjar (is) f pl
- Indonesian: Kepulauan Britania
- Irish: Éire agus an Bhreatain Mhór
- Italian: isole britanniche f pl, arcipelago britannico m
- (deprecated template usage)
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- Japanese: ブリテン諸島 (Buriten-shotō), イギリス諸島 (Igirisu-shotō)
- Korean: 브리튼 제도 (Beuriteun jedo), 영국 제도 (Yeongguk jedo)
- Latvian: Britu salas f pl
- Lithuanian: Britų salos f pl
- Macedonian: Британски Острови m pl (Britanski Ostrovi)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: De britiske øyer pl
- Nynorsk: Dei britiske øyane pl
- Persian: جزایر بریتانیا (jazâyir-e beritâniyâ)
- Polish: Wyspy Brytyjskie (pl) f pl
- Portuguese: Ilhas Britânicas f pl
- Romanian: Insulele Britanice f pl
- Russian: Брита́нские острова́ (ru) m pl (Británskije ostrová)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: Британски отоци m pl (Croatia), Британска острва n pl (Serbia)
- Roman: Britanski otoci m pl (Croatia), Britanska ostrva n pl (Serbia)
- Slovak: Britské ostrovy m pl
- Slovene: Britansko otočje n
- Spanish: las Islas Británicas f pl
- Swedish: Brittiska öarna c pl
- Thai: บริติชไอลส์
- Turkish: Britanya Adaları
- Ukrainian: Брита́нські острови́ m pl (Brytánsʹki ostrový)
- Vietnamese: quần đảo Anh
- Welsh: Ynysoedd Prydain
- Yiddish: בריטישע אינזלען f pl (britishe inzlen)
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