Briticism

American  

[brit-uh-siz-uhm] / ˈbrɪt əˌsɪz əm /

noun

1. a word, idiom, or phrase characteristic of or restricted to British English, especially as compared with American English, as lift compared with elevator or in hospital with in the hospital.

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Briticism British  

/ ˈbrɪtɪˌsɪzəm /

noun

1. a custom, linguistic usage, or other feature peculiar to Britain or its people

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Etymology

Origin of Briticism

1865–70, British + -ism, with -ic for -ish on the model of Gallicism, etc.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Briticism

She says this as a matter of consensus, though to gaze at Wright, looking glam in borrowed clothes from Zero + Maria Cornejo, is to consider the observation — to borrow a Briticism — rubbish.

From Washington Post ● May 2, 2017

He kept repeating this Briticism until the Moscow telephone system found someone who could speak his language.

From Time Magazine Archive

Only a well-worn Briticism was adequate to describe this summer's weather in Britain and a good part of Western Europe: it was "absolutely filthy."

From Time Magazine Archive

Granted that it has slipped into the uncritical compendiums which pass for dictionaries nowadays, "Briticism" is a case of verbal illegitimacy at its worst.

From Time Magazine Archive

To use a Briticism, it was “cruel”; the corresponding Americanism was more appropriate—it was “fierce.”

From The People of the Abyss by Jack London

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