British
Syllables: Brit·ish/ˈbɹɪtɪʃ/[ˈbɹɪtɪʃ]
British noun: the residents or inhabitants of Great Britain.
Noun
British pl (plural only)
- The residents or inhabitants of Great Britain.
- The citizens or inhabitants of the United Kingdom.
- The earlier inhabitants of southern Britain, prior to the Anglo-Saxon invasion and subsequent migrations.
- Synonyms:
- Britons
- Synonym of Welsh: the Welsh people.
- Synonyms:
- Welsh
Proper noun
British
- The Celtic language of the ancient Britons; Common Brittonic.
- The British English language.
Adjective
British (comparative more British, superlative most British)
- Of Britain.
- Of the United Kingdom.
- Of the Commonwealth of Nations, or the British Empire.
- Of England; English.
- Of the ancient inhabitants of the southern part of Britain; Brythonic.
- Of the British Isles.
- Of British English.
British meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
British in Hindi
- citizens or inhabitants of Britain
- ब्रिटिश briṭiś, अंग्रेज़ी aṅgrezī
- the citizens or inhabitants of the UK
- अंग्रेज़ aṅgrez, अंग्रेज़िन aṅgrezin, ब्रिटिश briṭiś
- of Britain
- अंग्रेज़ी aṅgrezī, ब्रिटिश briṭiś
- colloquial: of the UK
- ब्रिटिश briṭiś, अंग्रेज़ी aṅgrezī
British in Tamil
- பண்டைப் பிரிட்டானியர்களின் மொழி, வெல்ஷ் மொழி, பிரித்தானிய, பிரிட்டன் நாட்டுக்குரிய, பிரிட்டன் பேரரசைச் சார்ந்த, பிரிட்டன் குடிமக்களைப் பற்றிய
British in Marathi
- citizens or inhabitants of Britain
- ब्रिटिश briṭiś
- the citizens or inhabitants of the UK
- ब्रिटिश briṭiś
- the British English language
- ब्रिटिश इंग्रजी briṭiś iṅgrajī, ब्रिटिश इंग्लिश briṭiś iṅgliś
British in Urdu
- citizens or inhabitants of Britain
- انگریز aṅgrez
- of Britain
- بَرْطانْوِی bartānvī, بِرْٹِش birṭiś, اَن٘گْریزی aṅgrezī
More languagesFewer languages
- British in Bengali
- ব্রিটিশ briṭiś
- British in Malayalam
- ബ്രിട്ടണുമായി ബന്ധപ്പെട്ട, ബ്രിട്ടീഷുകാരൻ, ബ്രിട്ടീഷുകാർ
- British in Gujarati
- વિલાયતી vilāyatī, બ્રિટિશ briṭiś
- British in Assamese
- ব্ৰিটিছ britis, বিলাতী bilati
- British in Arabic
- بِرِيطَانِيّ biriṭāniyy, بِرِيطَانِيَّة biriṭāniyya, بَرِيطَانِيّ barīṭāniyy
- British in Indonesian
- Bangsa Inggris, Orang Inggris Kuno, Orang Pribumi Inggris, Orang Inggris
- British in Persian
- بریتانیایی beritâniyâyi, بِریتانِیایی beritâniyâyi
- British in Thai
- บริเตน brì-dteen
- British in Vietnamese
- Anh, đảo Anh
- British in Myanmar
- ဗြိတိလျှ bri.ti.hlya., ဗြိတိသျှ bri.ti.hsya.
Synonyms of British
Forms of British
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| alternative form | Brittish |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more British |
| superlative | most British |
Origin of British
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.
Words formed from British
- Belgo-British
- best of British luck
- Black British
- Brasian
- Brindian
- Britcom
- Britglish
- British America
- British Antarctic Territory
- British Columbia
- Britisher
- Britishification
- Britishify
- Britishise
- Britishish
- British Islands
- British Isles
- Britishism
- Britishize
- Britishly
- Britishman
- British Mandate
- Britishness
- British North America
- British Open
- British Raj
- Britishry
- British Togoland
- British Warm
- Britlish
- familial British dementia
- I'm British
- unBritish
Phrases with British
- British gum
- British Blue
- British wine
- British Asian
- British Blues
- British India
- British teeth
- British wines
- Great British
- British Empire
- British Guiana
- British Ogaden
48 more phrasesFewer phrases
- best of British
- British bulldog
- British English
- British baseball
- British bulldogs
- British Honduran
- British Honduras
- British Invasion
- British Jubaland
- British Longhair
- British Columbian
- British Israelism
- British Longhairs
- British Shorthair
- British California
- British Columbians
- British Shorthairs
- British Somaliland
- British Summer Time
- British West Indies
- British Commonwealth
- British racing green
- British thermal unit
- British racing greens
- British Semi-Longhair
- British Sign Language
- British thermal units
- British Central Africa
- British Columbia Coast
- British Semi-Longhairs
- British Virgin Islands
- the British are coming
- British and Irish Isles
- British Virgin Islander
- British Crown dependency
- British Museum algorithm
- British Virgin Islanders
- British Columbia Interior
- British Isles and Ireland
- Coast of British Columbia
- British Double Summer Time
- British East India Company
- British overseas territory
- British overseas territories
- British South Africa Company
- Interior of British Columbia
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- British Commonwealth of Nations
Words that rhyme with British
Questions about British
- What does British mean?
- British means the residents or inhabitants of Great Britain.
- What is British in Hindi?
- British in Hindi is ब्रिटिश (briṭiś), अंग्रेज़ी (aṅgrezī), अंग्रेज़ (aṅgrez). See British meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is British?
- British can be a noun, a proper noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce British?
- British is pronounced /ˈbɹɪtɪʃ/.
Words near British in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: British (page history and authors); British (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); british (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); બ્રિટિશ (Gujarati) (page history and authors). 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-British.ogg, en-us-British.oga.
Cite this entry: “British.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/british. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.