Britain

American  

[brit-n] / ˈbrɪt n /

noun

1. Great Britain.

2. Britannia.

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Britain British  

/ ˈbrɪtən /

noun

1. another name for Great Britain United Kingdom

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Britain Cultural  

1. Officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, located on the British Isles off the western coast of the mainland (continent) of Europe. It comprises England, Wales, and Scotland on the island of Great Britain, and Northern Ireland on the island of Ireland. Its capital and largest city is London.

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It is one of the world's leading industrialized nations.

Most of the settlers of the American colonies were British. The colonies remained under the British crown until the American Revolutionary War.

Britain declared war on Germany in 1939. Allied with the United States and the Soviet Union, the British, under the leadership of Winston Churchill, played an important role in defeating Germany.

At the height of its imperial power in the late nineteenth century, Britain boasted colonies and possessions around the globe. (See British Empire.)

A constitutional monarchy, Britain's government calls for the hereditary king or queen to perform mostly ceremonial functions. Parliament governs the country.

Compare meaning

How does britain compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Britain vs. Great Britain
• Britain vs. England

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Britain

Sonay Kartal and Katie Boulter lost their respective singles matches as Great Britain were beaten by a strong Czech Republic side in the Billie Jean King Cup quarter-finals.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

Great Britain and Northern Ireland won 19 medals in Birmingham, including nine golds.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

She says the only native cat found in the wild in Britain "deserves to be here, they're part of the landscape."

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

Britain agreed to give military support to Saudi Arabia, media reports said Monday, adding that the UK would provide "defensive" air-to-air refuelling for Saudi jets.

From Barron's

During the first two decades after the war for independence from Britain, large numbers of first- and second-generation Ulster Scots moved westward into the Ohio Valley, western Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz