British

Meaning

1. Of Britain.
2. Of British English.
3. Of the United Kingdom.
4. Synonym of Welsh: the Welsh people.
5. Of England; English.
6. The residents or inhabitants of Great Britain.
7. The British English language.
8. The citizens or inhabitants of the United Kingdom.
9. Of the British Isles.
10. Of the ancient inhabitants of the southern part of Britain; Brythonic.
11. The Celtic language of the ancient Britons; Common Brittonic.
12. The earlier inhabitants of southern Britain, prior to the Anglo-Saxon invasion and subsequent migrations.
13. Of the Commonwealth of Nations, or the British Empire.

Etymology / origin

From Middle English Brittish, from Old English Brettisċ. The spelling with single -t- appears in the 13th century under the influence of Medieval Latin Britannicus, but spelling with -tt- persists alongside -t- during the 13th to at least 18th centuries. In reference to the island of Great Britain from ca. 1400 (Latin natio Anglica sive Britannica, Brittisshe occean 1398, the Britishe nacion 1548). As a noun, referring to the British people, British soldiers, etc. from ca. 1600.

Sources

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