Britain
Syllables: Brit·ain/ˈbɹɪt.ən//ˈbɹɪt.ən/
Britain proper noun: the United Kingdom, a kingdom and country in Northern Europe including the island of Great Britain as well as Northern Ireland on the northeastern portion of the island of Ireland.
Proper noun
Britain (countable and uncountable, plural Britains)
- The United Kingdom, a kingdom and country in Northern Europe including the island of Great Britain as well as Northern Ireland on the northeastern portion of the island of Ireland.
- With the eclipse of Empire, and the emergence of America and Russia, it was inevitable that we would lose comparative power and influence—and to be sure we have been in relative economic decline since the middle of the nineteenth century (when we were still producing two thirds of the world's...1979 March 31, Nicholas Henderson, Britain's Decline: Its Causes and Consequences
- Great Britain, a large island (sometimes also including some of the surrounding smaller islands) off the north-west coast of Western Europe, made up of England, Scotland, and Wales; especially (but not exclusively) during antiquity.
- Synonyms:
- Gramarye
- England, Scotland and Wales in combination.
- Brittany.
- The British Isles.
- The British state and its dominions and holdings; the British Empire.
- The British Empire.
- The name of 'Britain' […] ought to answer every purpose, or if that be thought too condensed, it may be pluralized into ‘The Britains’.1874 July 14, The Times
Noun
Britain (plural Britains)
- An ancient Briton.
- The Britains’ struggles with the Scots and Picts [...] led to the Britains asking the Romans for help in constructing a great wall.2002, L. C. Lambdin, R. T. Lambdin, Companion to Old and Middle English Literature, page 12
Adjective
Britain (comparative more Britain, superlative most Britain)
Britain meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
Britain in Hindi
- island — see also Great Britain, British Isles
- ब्रिटेन briṭen, बरतानिया bartāniyā
Britain in Tamil
- இது ஒரு நாடாகும், பிரிட்டனின் ஆட்சிப் பேரரசு
Britain in Marathi
- island — see also Great Britain, British Isles
- ब्रिटन briṭan
Britain in Urdu
- island — see also Great Britain, British Isles
- بَرْطَانِیَہ bartāniya
More languagesFewer languages
- Britain in Bengali
- ব্রিটেন briṭen, বিলাত bilat
- Britain in Telugu
- బ్రిటన్ briṭan
- Britain in Malayalam
- ബ്രിട്ടൻ, ബൃത്താനിക, ഇംഗ്ലണ്ട്, ബിലാത്തി
- Britain in Sinhala
- බ්රිතාන්ය britānya
- Britain in Pashto
- برتانيه bartānya, برطانيه bartānya, بريتانيا britāniyā
- Britain in Tagalog
- Bretanya
- Britain in Arabic
- بِرِيطانِيَا birīṭāniyā
- Britain in Malay
- Britania
- Britain in Indonesian
- Britania
- Britain in Thai
- บริเตน brì-dteen
- Britain in Vietnamese
- đảo Anh, Anh
- Britain in Myanmar
- ဘိလပ် bhi.lap, ဗြိတိန် bri.tin
Synonyms of Britain
Forms of Britain
| Proper noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | Britains |
| alternative form (obsolete) | Brittain |
| Noun | |
| plural | Britains |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more Britain |
| superlative | most Britain |
Origin of Britain
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.
From Middle English brytayn, from Latin Britannus (adjective and noun, plural Britannī), apparently from Brythonic (compare Old Welsh Priten).
Words formed from Britain
Phrases with Britain
Words that rhyme with Britain
Questions about Britain
- What does Britain mean?
- Britain means the United Kingdom, a kingdom and country in Northern Europe including the island of Great Britain as well as Northern Ireland on the northeastern portion of the island of Ireland.
- What is Britain in Hindi?
- Britain in Hindi is ब्रिटेन (briṭen), बरतानिया (bartāniyā). See Britain meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is Britain?
- Britain can be a proper noun, a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce Britain?
- Britain is pronounced /ˈbɹɪt.ən/ (UK).
Words near Britain in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Britain (page history and authors); Britain (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Britain (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-Britain.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Zazollo-Britain.wav.
Cite this entry: “Britain.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/britain. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.