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

A month into their housing search in Hartford County, the couple finally found their dream home in a suburb, New Britain.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

The Pennsylvanischer Staatsbote probably learned that the Continental Congress had severed ties with Great Britain from a source in the shop of John Dunlap, who had a contract to print the body’s resolutions.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

"Great Britain used to have that, and I think that the only way to stop it is to make the consequences a lot more severe than what they are."

From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026

Between 2011 and 2021, nearly 31,000 Syrians were granted asylum in Britain after the civil war there sparked a refugee crisis, according to government statistics.

From Barron's • Mar. 31, 2026

Great Britain and France, the leading colonial powers, ruled much of the world beyond Europe’s shores.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman