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

On 7 May millions of people will be able to vote in elections across Great Britain.

From BBC

That compares to 67 percent in Germany, 44 percent in Britain and around 32 percent in the United States.

From Barron's

But some survivors do not believe the Met or government have gone far enough in investigating what they describe as "Britain's own Epstein scandal".

From BBC

The same slowdown trend was observed in PMIs in Britain and Australia.

From Barron's

On Monday, Iran's ambassador to the UK, Seyed Ali Mousavi, was summoned by the Foreign Office over what it described as his country's "reckless and destabilising actions" in Britain and overseas.

From BBC