The English Mastiff is a breed of large dog. National kennel clubs, including the United Kingdom's Kennel Club and the American Kennel Club, refer to the breed as simply the Mastiff. The turn-of-the-millennium Greek historian Strabo reported that dogs were exported from Britain for the purpose of game hunting, and that these dogs were also used by the Celts as war dogs. As far as the origin of the Pugnaces Britanniae is concerned, there is unproven speculation that they were descended from dogs brought to Britain by the Phoenicians in the 6th century BC. This breed's first written accounts in England date back to 55 BC when Caesar noted them during his invasions. Other sources, such as the Oxford English Dictionary, say the word originated from the Old French word mastin (Modern French mâtin), the word being itself derived from Vulgar Latin *ma(n)suetinus 'tame', see Classical Latin mansuetus with same meaning. This page was last edited on 28 May 2020, at 19:32 (UTC).