brit

or britt

[brit]

noun

the group of small marine animals forming the food of whalebone whales.

the young of herring and sprat.

Origin of brit

1595–1605; perhaps < Cornish brȳthel mackerel; akin to Old Cornish brȳth, Welsh brith speckled

Brit

[brit]

noun Informal.

Briton(def 1).

Origin of Brit

First recorded in 1900–05; by shortening

Brith

or Berith, Brit, Bris

[Sephardic Hebrew breet; Ashkenazic Hebrew bris; English bris, brit]

noun Hebrew.

the Jewish rite of circumcising a male child eight days after his birth.

Compare Brith Milah.

Origin of Brith

bərīth literally, covenant

Brit.

Britain.

British.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for brit

Contemporary Examples of brit

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 Independence
Marlow 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 Soothsayer
Emily 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 Cancer
Tim 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.
Did MI5 Spies Troll J.K. Rowling Over Scottish Independence?
The Telegraph
June 28, 2014

Historical Examples of brit

They were all copied by Gough, which he notices in his Brit.
Notes and Queries, Number 188, June 4, 1853
Various
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 Whale
Herman Melville
Then the brit broke in silvery leaping waves on the shelving beach.
The Roadmender
Michael Fairless
Sometimes amulets were made of clay, a good example of which is Brit.
Mesopotamian Archaeology
Percy S. P. Handcock

British Dictionary definitions for brit

brit

noun (functioning as singular or plural)

the young of a herring, sprat, or similar fish

minute marine crustaceans, esp copepods, forming food for many fishes and whales

Word Origin for brit

C17: perhaps from Cornish brӯthel mackerel; see brill

Brit

noun

informal a British person

Brit

abbreviation for

Britain

British

brith

noun

a variant of bris

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

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."