British

Less common meanings

6. 6
   language (US use)proper nounUSwith the

   The English language as used in Britain, especially when treated as distinct from American English.

   Her American friends insist the actors on that crime drama are speaking British.

   He claimed British and American were really two different languages.

   Note

   Chiefly American, this use names the English of Britain the way other languages are named, as in they're speaking British. In careful writing, British English is the expected name, and the adjective for that variety covers its spelling and vocabulary.

7. 7
   adjectivenonstandardwith the

   Relating to England or the English specifically, in a loose use that leaves out Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

   Her grandparents are Irish and Scottish, but her husband's family is British, from Kent.

   The Welsh fans sang their anthem, and the British fans across the stadium answered with "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot."

   UsageIf you mean England, say English; British also covers Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

   SimilarEnglish

8. 8
   of the old tribesadjectivehistoricalwith the

   Describing something belonging to the ancient Britons, who lived in southern Britain before the Anglo-Saxons came, such as their tribes, lands, or Brythonic language.

   The hillfort had been a British stronghold long before the Saxons arrived.

   Roman accounts describe British warriors painted for battle.

   SimilarBrythonic, Brittonic

   Note

   The adjective of archaeology and early history. A British hillfort or British warriors belong to the Celtic peoples of southern Britain, into the Romano-British period, not to modern Britain. Brythonic is the narrower alternative and removes that ambiguity. The people themselves, and the origin of the term, belong to the ancient British. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • In this historical sense, British refers to the ancient inhabitants of southern Britain and corresponds to Brythonic. en.wiktionary.org
   • The ancient Britons' culture continued into the Romano-British period. en.wikipedia.org
9. 9
   nounpluralwith the

   The ancient Britons themselves, as a people: those who lived in southern Britain before the Anglo-Saxon invasion and the migrations that followed.

   The advancing Anglo-Saxons gradually drove the British into Wales and Cornwall.

   Caesar's account gives an early Roman view of the British.

   SimilarBritons

   Note

   A historian's word for the people the Anglo-Saxons found already in place. It is the oldest sense: Old English Brettisc named this population long before it named a nation. Britons is the usual alternative in historical writing and keeps them apart from the modern British. Their descendants are traced in Wales and Cornwall, where the old name for the Welsh picks up the story. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • The Britons inhabited Britain before Anglo-Saxon settlement. en.wikipedia.org
   • British derives from Old English Brettisc, and its ancient British reference precedes its modern national reference. en.wiktionary.org
   • The Welsh and Cornish descend from the ancient Britons. en.wikipedia.org
   • British was formerly a name for the Welsh. en.wikipedia.org
10. 10
    nounobsoletepluralwith the

    The Welsh people; that is, the inhabitants of Wales.

    SimilarWelsh

    Note

    An obsolete usage that treats the Welsh as the surviving heirs of the pre-Anglo-Saxon population. It turns up in old annals and chronicles, where the British fighting in the west may be the Welsh, though they can also be the Cornish, so read the context. In modern writing, say the Welsh, since the word now points to Britain as a whole. Source

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • British has an obsolete sense meaning the Welsh people. en.wiktionary.org
    • The Welsh maintained continuity with the population of pre-Anglo-Saxon Britain. en.wikipedia.org
    • Old chronicles identify Britons as Welsh. gutenberg.org
    • The context must identify the people concerned: western Britons in chronicles can also be Cornish. William of Malmesbury describes attacks on western Britons whom he explicitly identifies as Cornish. gutenberg.org
11. 11
    proper noun

    The language of the ancient Britons, a Celtic tongue that scholars also call Common Brittonic.