Briton
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈbɹɪt.ən/
rhymes: -ɪtən
homophone: Britain
Forms: form: Britons
Etymology: From Old French Breton, from Latin Brittō. Doublet of Breton and Brython.
Senses: examples: text: At last the Saxons had killed nearly all the Britons, and the few who remained took refuge in the mountains, in that part of the country which we now call Wales, and in Cornwall.
ref: 1905, Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall, Our Island Story, page 59:
text: He writhed for twenty minutes under the flowery and eulogistic periods of the president, and rose himself in the state of confused indignation which the Briton feels when he is publicly approved.
ref: 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
text: The ancient Britons were particularly fond of Anglesey, which the Romans knew as Mona.
glosses: An inhabitant of Great Britain, particularly (historical) a Celt from the area of Roman Britain or (obsolete) a Welshman; a British person.
examples: text: ...when these hateful termes of Scottes and Englishemen, shalbe abolisshed, and blotted oute for euer, and we shal al agre in the onely title and name of Britons...
ref: 1547, James Harrison, An Exhortacion to the Scottes..., G v b:
text: Rule, Britannia! Britannia rules the waves:
Britons never, never, never will be slaves.
ref: 1740, “Rule, Britannia!”, James Thomson (lyrics), Thomas Arne (music):
text: I glory in the name of Briton.
ref: 1760, King George III, quoted in George Rose's 1860 Diaries and Correspondence..., Vol. II, p. 189
text: Many of the rank and file had no better conception of the proud and sensitive Maori than was implied in the degrading 'nigger' theory, invariably applied by the unthinking Briton to all coloured races.
ref: 1902, George Stoddart Whitmore, The Last Maori War in New Zealand..., page vi:
text: The victims included 3 Canadians, 2 Irishmen, and 1 Briton.
text: The hiker was a Briton from New Zealand.
glosses: A citizen of the United Kingdom or (historical, obsolete) its overseas empire.
Synonyms: sense: native of Great Britain, subject of the UK
word: the British
sense: native of Great Britain, subject of the UK
word: Brit
sense: native of Great Britain, subject of the UK
word: Britisher
sense: native of Great Britain, subject of the UK
word: limey
sense: native of Great Britain, subject of the UK
word: pom
sense: native of Great Britain, subject of the UK
word: pommy
sense: native of Great Britain, subject of the UK
word: Englishman
sense: Celts of ancient Britain
word: ancient Briton
sense: native of Wales
word: Welshman
word: Briton
word: Tommy
word: pomey
word: rosbif
Hypernyms: word: person
word: European
Hyponyms: word: Britishman
word: Britoness
word: Englishman
word: Englishwoman
word: sassenach
word: Southron
word: Sows
word: Irishman
word: Irishwoman
word: Ulsterman
word: Ulsterwoman
word: jock
word: Jock
word: Jimmy
word: Scot
word: Scotchman
word: Scotchwoman
word: Scotsman
word: Scotswoman
word: sweaty sock
word: Taffy
word: Walian
word: Welshman
word: Welshwoman
word: Cornishman
word: Cornishwoman
word: lowlander
word: Lowlander
word: highlander
word: Highlander
word: Merseysider
word: moonraker
word: Smoggy
word: Teessider
word: Tyke
word: Wirralian
word: yam yam
word: Yorkshireman
word: Yorkshirewoman
word: Bristolian
word: Brummie
word: Cockney
word: Geordie
word: Glaswegian
word: Hartlepudlian
word: Liverpudlian
word: Janner
word: Leodensian
word: Loiner
word: Mackem
word: Manc
word: Mancunian
word: monkey hanger
word: Sand Dancer
word: Scouser
word: Sotonian
word: Weegie
Derived terms: Britoness
Briton Ferry
North Briton
South Briton
West Briton
Related terms: Britain