English

“Vote Leave” and “Vote Remain” posters displayed in windows in Pimlico, London

A map showing the results of the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum on 23 June 2016. Areas in yellow indicate districts that voted in favour of remaining within the Union; those in blue voted to leave.

Alternative forms

• Brixit

Proper noun

Brexit

1. (Britain, politics) The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
   • 2012 May 15, Peter Wilding, “Stumbling towards the Brexit”, in EurActiv, archived from the original on 24 June 2016:

     Unless a clear view is pushed that Britain must lead in Europe at the very least to achieve the completion of the single market then the portmanteau for Greek euro exit might be followed by another sad word, Brexit.

   • 2015, Denis MacShane, Brexit: How Britain Will Leave Europe, London: I.B. Tauris, ISBN 978-1-78453-313-7, page 6:

     The business community began to take the idea of Brexit seriously. Three major American banks, the Bank of America, Citibank and Morgan Stanley, revealed they were working on contingency plans to relocate from London to Dublin […]

   • 2016 June 24, Kate McCann, “EU referendum live: David Cameron resigns after UK shocks the world by voting for Brexit”, in The Daily Telegraph, archived from the original on 24 June 2016:

     David Cameron has resigned as Prime Minister after Britain voted to leave the European Union. It followed a turbulent night with Remain campaigners quietly confident until the early hours when results from Newcastle and Sunderland showed better than expected returns for the Brexit camp. A surprise victory for a Brexit in Swansea, which was expected to vote to Remain, did little to dampen concerns despite Scotland overwhelmingly backing staying in the Union.

   • 2016 August 1, Alex Barker and Jim Brunsden, “Eurocrats’ pensions shape up to be flashpoint in Brexit talks”, in Financial Times:

     The pensions of British Eurocrats are shaping up to be one of the most politically poisonous points in the UK’s Brexit talks, as the EU and London prepare to clash over liabilities running to several billion euros.

Derived terms

• Brexiteer
• Brexiter
• regrexit
• hard Brexit
• soft Brexit

Related terms

• Bremain
• Czexit, Fixit, Frexit, Grexit, Lexit, Nexit
• regrexit

Translations

Verb

Brexit ‎(third-person singular simple present Brexits, present participle Brexiting, simple past and past participle Brexited)

1. (of Britain) To exit the European Union.
   • 2015, Stefano Francesco Fugazzi, Brexit?, ISBN 1326311743, page 27:

     Brexiting the EU, not leaving Europe

   • 2016, Maureen Dowd, The Year of Voting Dangerously: The Derangement of American Politics, ISBN 1455539244:

     Parisiens I had talked to were universally disgusted: with David Cameron, for holding the vote; with the British, for Brexiting;

   • 2016, Owen Bennet, The Brexit Club: The Inside Story of the Leave Campaign’s Shock Victory, ISBN 1785901133:

     Farage recalls: What was clear from that polling was that in June 2015 the most trusted person in the country on whether to Brexit or not to Brexit was David Cameron.

Danish

Proper noun

Brexit

1. Brexit

French

Etymology

Borrowing from English Brexit.

Proper noun

Brexit m

1. Brexit
   • 2014 July 17, Nicolas Baverez, “Le Brexit ou l'absurdité du siècle”, in Le Point:

     Le Brexit (British exit) ou sortie du Royaume-Uni de l'Union européenne paraît pratiquement inéluctable.

   • 2016, Danielle Auroi, Rapport d'information de la commission des affaires européennes sur les négociations de l'Union européenne avec le Royaume Uni relatives à son maintien au sein de l'Union, page 18:

     Début janvier, David Cameron a finalement accepté de laisser les ministres de son cabinet faire campagne en faveur du Brexit s'ils le souhaitaient, à titre privé et individuel.

   • 2016 June 24, “Résultat du référendum sur le Brexit”, in Le Huffington Post:

     Le Brexit, ou British Exit, était en tête avec près de 51,7% des voix après dépouillement dans 300 des 382 centres du pays, peu avant 5h, selon le décompte officiel, grâce à des résultats largement favorables dans plusieurs villes du nord de l'Angleterre et au Pays de Galles.

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowing from English Brexit

Proper noun

Brexit m

1. Brexit
   • 2015 May 25, Pablo R. Suanzes, “Brexident, más que Brexit”, in El Mundo:

     Con la campaña electoral británica y el giro a la derecha, por así llamarlo, de David Cameron, otro concepto se ha hecho bastante popular en los pasillos de las instituciones, el de 'Brexit'.

   • 2015 November 26, Roberto Casado, “El gran riesgo de 2016 para los mercados es el 'Brexit'”, in Expansión:

     Los inversores apenas han reaccionado al sondeo, el primero que otorga la victoria a los partidarios del Brexit.

   • 2016 June 24, Carolina Enriquez, “Cinco efectos que podría generar el Brexit en Ecuador”, in El Comercio:

     Hasta antes del Brexit, estas personas sí tenían libertad para laborar en territorios británicos.

Spanish

Noun

brexit m ‎(uncountable)

1. Brexit
   • 2016 July 15, “May busca diálogo con Escocia por el brexit”, in El Deber Bolivia:

     May se reúne hoy en Edimburgo con la ministra principal escocesa, la independentista Nicola Sturgeon, para abordar las consecuencias del brexit, la salida del Reino Unido de la UE.