British

[brit-ish]

adjective

1. of or relating to Great Britain or its inhabitants.

2. used especially by natives or inhabitants of Great Britain.

   In this dictionary, “Brit.” is an abbreviation for “British usage.”

noun

1. the people native to or inhabiting Great Britain.

2. British English.

3. the Celtic language of the ancient Britons.

British

/ ˈbrɪtɪʃ /

adjective

1. relating to, denoting, or characteristic of Britain or any of the natives, citizens, or inhabitants of the United Kingdom

2. relating to or denoting the English language as spoken and written in Britain, esp the S dialect generally regarded as standard See also Southern British English Received Pronunciation

3. relating to or denoting the ancient Britons

4. of or relating to the Commonwealth

   British subjects

noun

1. (functioning as plural) the natives or inhabitants of Britain

2. the extinct Celtic language of the ancient Britons See also Brythonic

Other Word Forms

• Britishly adverb
• Britishness noun
• anti-British adjective
• non-British adjective
• pre-British adjective
• pro-British adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of British¹

before 900; Middle English Brittische, Old English Bryttisc, equivalent to Brytt ( as ) Britons + -isc- -ish ¹; Briton

Example Sentences

The British historian Arnold Toynbee saw the Industrial Revolution as “a period as disastrous and terrible as any through which a nation ever passed.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

These include the Rosetta Stone, the key to deciphering hieroglyphics, which is on display at the British Museum in London.

Read more on BBC

Born in Glasgow into a singing family, he released a number of albums over the years and was among the earliest steel-string players in British folk music.

Read more on BBC

You are talking about the top echelons of international team sport when you have benches like England's - which featured six British and Irish Lions tourists.

Read more on BBC

Instead, “Tommy” was apprehended at the British entrance to the Channel Tunnel last July, apparently on his way to Spain in a Bentley SUV registered to someone else and with about $20,000 in cash.

Read more on Salon

When To Use

What does British mean?

British is used as an adjective to describe something as coming from or being related to the island of Great Britain or the people who live there, as in We drove through the British countryside.British is also used as a noun to mean the people of Great Britain, usually as “the British.”Great Britain, often referred to as just Britain, is a large island located off the northwest coast of continental Europe. It is made up of England, Wales, and Scotland, which are part of the United Kingdom (UK). There is no country called Great Britain. The name is used only to refer to the physical island.However, the United Kingdom is often referred to as Great Britain or Britain, even though the UK also includes Northern Ireland. For this reason, the word British is often used to refer to things related to the island or the people who live there, as in The exciting tennis match was covered by the British media.In a related sense, British is used as a noun to refer to the people who live or have lived on the island of Great Britain, as in The movie was more popular with the British than it was with Americans.Example: The British people are proud of their island home.