English

Proper noun

Britain ‎(plural Britains)

1. The island of Great Britain, consisting of England, Scotland and Wales. [from 10th c.]
2. (loosely) The United Kingdom.
3. (now historical) Brittany. [from 13th c.]
4. (now historical) The British state and its dominions and holdings; the British Empire. [from 17th c.]
5. (in the plural) The British Empire. [from 19th c.]
   • 1874, The Times, 14 July 1874:

     The name of 'Britain' [...] ought to answer every purpose, or if that be thought too condensed, it may be pluralized into ‘The Britains’.

Related terms

• Breton
• British
• Briton
• Brittania
• Brittany
• Beretania
• Broken Britain

Translations

Etymology 2

From Latin Britannus (adjective and noun, plural Britannī), apparently from Brythonic (compare Old Welsh Priten).

Noun

Britain ‎(plural Britains)

1. (now rare, historical) An ancient Briton. [from 15th c.]
   • 2002, L. C. Lambdin and R. T. Lambdin, Companion to Old and Middle English Literature, 2002, page 12:

     The Britains’ struggles with the Scots and Picts [...] led to the Britains asking the Romans for help in constructing a great wall.

Adjective

Britain ‎(comparative more Britain, superlative most Britain)

1. (obsolete) Briton; British. [16th-18th c.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.11:

     mightie Albion, father of the bold / And warlike people which the Britaine Islands hold […].

See also

• Great Britain
• the British Isles
• the United Kingdom