brit
or britt
[brit]
- the group of small marine animals forming the food of whalebone whales.
- the young of herring and sprat.
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Origin of brit
1595–1605; perhaps < Cornish brȳthel mackerel; akin to Old Cornish brȳth, Welsh brith speckled
Brit
[brit]
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Origin of Brit
First recorded in 1900–05; by shortening
Brith
or Berith, Brit, Bris
[Sephardic Hebrew breet; Ashkenazic Hebrew bris; English bris, brit]
- the Jewish rite of circumcising a male child eight days after his birth.
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Compare Brith Milah.
Origin of Brith
bərīth literally, covenant
Brit.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for brit
Contemporary Examples
The strapping 24-year-old Brit is not only one of the hottest young actors in Hollywood but also dating ‘It Girl’ Cara Delevingne.
Angelina Jolie’s New Muse: The Rise of Jack O’Connell, Star of the WWII Epic ‘Unbroken’Marlow Stern
December 10, 2014
The very mention of his part in Spice World causes the Brit to erupt in a violent fit of laughter.
Dominic West Talks ‘The Wire’ Movie, Prince Harry, and Why He’s Opposed to Scottish IndependenceMarlow Stern
September 16, 2014
A Brit by birth, the eight-armed oracle was born in Weymouth, England, in 2008 at the Sea Life Centre.
The Amazing Tale of Paul the Psychic Octopus: Germany’s World Cup SoothsayerEmily Shire
July 12, 2014
Global fame beckoned when he debuted as Brit master spy James Bond, for four movies, in 1995.
Pierce Brosnan’s Life After Bond: From Action Hero to Losing His Daughter to CancerTim Teeman
July 2, 2014
David Bowie was told to "f*** off back to Mars" after urging Scotland to "stay with us" during a speech at the Brit Awards.
Historical Examples
They were all copied by Gough, which he notices in his Brit.
WE go to Southampton, if my courage and stomach do not fail, for the Brit.
The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Volume I (of II)Charles Darwin
But it was only the sound they made as they parted the brit which at all reminded one of mowers.
Moby Dick; or The WhaleHerman Melville
Then the brit broke in silvery leaping waves on the shelving beach.
The RoadmenderMichael Fairless
Sometimes amulets were made of clay, a good example of which is Brit.
Mesopotamian ArchaeologyPercy S. P. Handcock
brit
- the young of a herring, sprat, or similar fish
- minute marine crustaceans, esp copepods, forming food for many fishes and whales
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Word Origin
C17: perhaps from Cornish brӯthel mackerel; see brill
Brit1
- informal a British person
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Brit2
- Britain
- British
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brith
- a variant of bris
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for brit
Brit
n.
U.S. colloquial shortening of Britisher or Briton, 1901, formerly (in common with Britisher) highly offensive to Englishmen traveling in the States, who regarded it as yet another instance of the "odious vulgarism" of the Americans, but Bret and Bryt were common Old English words for the (Celtic) Britons and survived until c.1300. In Old French, Bret as an adjective meant "British, Breton; cunning, crafty; simple-minded, stupid."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper