Britain - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈbɹɪt.ən/, [ˈbɹɪt.n̩]
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈbɹɪt.ən/, [ˈbɹɪɾ.ᵊn̩], [ˈbɹɪʔ.ᵊn̩]
- Rhymes: -ɪtən
- Hyphenation: Brit‧ain
- Homophone: Briton
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.
Britain (countable and uncountable, plural Britains)
- (loosely) The United Kingdom.
- The island of Great Britain, consisting of England, Scotland and Wales, especially during antiquity. [from 10th c.]
- England, Scotland and Wales in combination.
- (obsolete) Brittany. [from 13th c.]
- (in the plural) The British Isles.
- (historical) The British state and its dominions and holdings; the British Empire. [from 17th c.]
- (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’.
- (island): Gramarye
- Albanian: Britania f
- Amharic: ብሪታንያ (bəritanya)
- Arabic: بِرِيطانِيَا (ar) f (birīṭāniyā)
- Armenian: Բրիտանիա (Britania)
- Azerbaijani: Britaniya
- Belarusian: Брыта́нія f (Brytánija)
- Bengali: ব্রিটেন (bn) (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:
- 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:
- Kyrgyz: Британия (Britaniya)
- Lao: ບໍລິເຕນ (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
- Marathi: ब्रिटन (briṭan)
- 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)
From Latin Britannus (adjective and noun, plural Britannī), apparently from Brythonic (compare Old Welsh Priten).
Britain (plural Britains)
- (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.
Britain (comparative more Britain, superlative most Britain)
- Great Britain
- the British Isles
- the United Kingdom
- Britain (placename) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia