British

noun

Brit·​ish ˈbri-tish How to pronounce British (audio)
1
a
: the Celtic language of the ancient Britons
b
: british english
2
plural in construction : the people of Great Britain or the Commonwealth of Nations
British adjective
Britishism
ˈbri-ti-ˌshi-zəm How to pronounce British (audio)
noun
Britishness noun

Examples of British in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Northern Superior is a reporting issuer in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Québec, and trades on the TSX-V under the symbol SUP and the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol NSUPF. —Charlotte Observer, 28 May 2024 Portrayed by Riley Keough, the New York writer revisits her hometown in British Columbia and stumbles upon the perfect lead for her next book: the disappearance of 14-year-old Reena Virk (Vritika Gupta). —EW.com, 27 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for British 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'British.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English Bruttische of Britain, from Old English Brettisc, from Brettas Britons, of Celtic origin; akin to Welsh Brython Briton

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of British was before the 12th century

Phrases Containing British

Dictionary Entries Near British

Briticism

British

British alpine

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“British.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/British. Accessed 1 Jun. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

Kids Definition

British

1 of 2 noun
Brit·​ish
ˈbrit-ish
1
plural British : the people of Great Britain or their descendants
2
: the English language as spoken in England

British

2 of 2 adjective
1
: of or relating to the original people of Britain
2
a
: of or relating to Great Britain or the British
b
: English entry 1
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Absent Letters That Are Heard Anyway

How to Use Accents and Diacritical Marks
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

The Words of the Week - May 31

Pilfer: How to Play and Win

9 Superb Owl Words

10 Words for Lesser-Known Games and Sports

Your Favorite Band is in the Dictionary
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A crossword with a twist
winning words from the national spelling bee logo
Spelling Bee Quiz Can you outdo past winners of the National Spelli...