WikiWord

English

Brit

/bɹɪt/ · noun

Meaning

  1. A British person.
  2. A Brit Award, a prize for musicians in Britain.
  3. Abbreviation of British.
  4. Abbreviation of Britain.
  5. Abbreviation of British English.
  6. A short river in Dorset, England, which flows through Bridport to the sea at West Bay; in full, the River Brit.
  7. To break in pieces; divide.
  8. To bruise; indent.
  9. To fall out or shatter (as overripe hops or grain).
  10. To fade away; alter.
  11. One of the young of herrings, sprats, etc.
  12. One of the tiny crustaceans, of the genus Calanus, that are part of the diet of right whales.
  13. brit milah
  14. A covenant, specifically that between God and the Jewish people.

Etymology / origin

First use appears c. 1901, either a shortening of Britisher or Briton, or a back-formation from British.

  1. brydh(Albanian)
  2. bryde(Danish)
  3. bryta(Swedish)
  4. brytja(is)
  5. *bʰrewd-(ine-pro)
  6. *breutaną(gem-pro)
  7. *brutjaną(gem-pro)
  8. brittian(Old English)
  9. brytten(enm)
  10. Brit (English)
  11. Relations: inh, inh, inh, der, der, cog, cog, cog, cog

Related words

Descendant words

Sources

No citations have been attached yet.