Briton

Noun

Briton (plural Britons)

1. An inhabitant of Great Britain, particularly (historical) a Celt from the area of Roman Britain or (obsolete) a Welshman; a British person.
   • At last the Saxons had killed nearly all the Britons, and the few who remained took refuge in the mountains, in that part of the country which we now call Wales, and in Cornwall.1905, Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall, Our Island Story, page 59
   • He writhed for twenty minutes under the flowery and eulogistic periods of the president, and rose himself in the state of confused indignation which the Briton feels when he is publicly approved.1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019

   Synonyms:

   the British, Brit, Britisher, limey, pom, pommy, Englishman, ancient Briton, Welshman

2. A citizen of the United Kingdom or (historical, obsolete) its overseas empire.
   • ...when these hateful termes of Scottes and Englishemen, shalbe abolisshed, and blotted oute for euer, and we shal al agre in the onely title and name of Britons...1547, James Harrison, An Exhortacion to the Scottes..., G v b
   • Rule, Britannia! Britannia rules the waves:
     Britons never, never, never will be slaves.1740, “Rule, Britannia!”, James Thomson (lyrics), Thomas Arne (music)