British

How to spell british

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce british

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does british mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to Great Britain, the United Kingdom, or its people, institutions, or products.
2. nounThe people of Great Britain considered collectively, usually preceded by 'the'.

British in a sentence

• adjective

  The british passport allows entry to many countries without a visa.

• noun

  The british are known for queuing patiently at bus stops.

• adjective

  She developed a taste for british tea during her years in London.

• noun

  Throughout history the british have traded heavily across the seas.

Where does british come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word traces back through Old English Brettisc, meaning 'of the Britons', which was formed from Bret or Briton, the name for the Celtic people who lived in the island before and during Roman times. That name itself comes from the Latin Brittones and ultimately from a Celtic source whose precise original meaning is debated, though it likely referred simply to the native islanders. The Romans called the province Britannia, and the island name endured even as waves of Anglo-Saxons, Norse, and Normans settled there. The suffix -ish is a thoroughly native Germanic ending used to form adjectives of nationality, the same one seen in 'English', 'Scottish', and 'Spanish'. The spelling stays mercifully regular: a single root plus that familiar -ish, with the small trap being that it is conventionally capitalised as a proper adjective, so the lowercase practice form simply drills the letter sequence.

How the word is built

• brit- (from Briton/Britannia, the early inhabitants of Britain)
• -ish (adjective suffix meaning 'of or belonging to')