Meanings
plural Britons
- An inhabitant of Great Britain, particularly (historical) a Celt from the area of Roman Britain or (obsolete) a Welshman; a British person.
The ancient Britons were particularly fond of Anglesey, which the Romans knew as Mona.
2 more examples
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.
1905, Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall, Our Island Story, page 59He 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.
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 2019Synonyms: the British, Brit, Britisher, limey, pom, pommy, Englishman, ancient Briton
- A citizen of the United Kingdom or (historical, obsolete) its overseas empire.
The hiker was a Briton from New Zealand.
5 more examples
...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...
1547, James Harrison, An Exhortacion to the Scottes..., G v bRule, Britannia! Britannia rules the waves: Britons never, never, never will be slaves.
1740, “Rule, Britannia!”, James Thomson (lyrics), Thomas Arne (music)I glory in the name of Briton.
1760, King George III, quoted in George Rose's 1860 Diaries and Correspondence..., Vol. II, p. 189Many 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.
1902, George Stoddart Whitmore, The Last Maori War in New Zealand..., page viThe victims included 3 Canadians, 2 Irishmen, and 1 Briton.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn inhabitant of Great Britain, particularly (historical) a Celt from the area of Roman Britain or (obsolete) a Welshman; a British person.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- LatinBrittō
- Old FrenchBreton
- EnglishBriton
From Old French Breton, from Latin Brittō. Doublet of Breton and Brython.
More words from Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans Brit
- Britcitizen of Great Britain
Ancient Greek Βρεττανός, Βρεττανός
- Βρεττανός (Brettanós)ancient Celts in the area of modern England and Wales
- Βρεττανός (Brettanós)citizen of Great Britain
- Βρεττανίς (Brettanís)citizen of Great Britain
Arabic بَرِيطَانِيّ, بَرِيطَانِيَّة
- بَرِيطَانِيّ (barīṭāniyy)citizen of Great Britain
- بَرِيطَانِيَّة (barīṭāniyya)citizen of Great Britain
- بِرِيطَانِيّ (birīṭāniyy)citizen of Great Britain
- بِرِيطَانِيَّة (birīṭāniyya)citizen of Great Britain
Bulgarian брита́нец, брита́нка
- брита́нец (británec)citizen of Great Britain
- брита́нка (británka)citizen of Great Britain
- брита́нче (británče)citizen of Great Britain
Catalan brità, britana
- britàancient Celts in the area of modern England and Wales
- britanaancient Celts in the area of modern England and Wales
- britóancient Celts in the area of modern England and Wales
- britonaancient Celts in the area of modern England and Wales
Chinese Mandarin 英國人 /英国人
- 英國人 /英国人 (Yīngguórén)citizen of Great Britain
Czech Brit, Britka
- Britcitizen of Great Britain
- Britkacitizen of Great Britain
Danish brite
- britecitizen of Great Britain
Dutch Brit
- Britcitizen of Great Britain
Estonian britt
- brittcitizen of Great Britain
Finnish britti, brittiläinen
- brittiancient Celts in the area of modern England and Wales
- brittiläinenancient Celts in the area of modern England and Wales
- britticitizen of Great Britain
French Britannique, Grand-Breton
- Britanniquecitizen of Great Britain
- Grand-Bretoncitizen of Great Britain
- Grande-Bretonnecitizen of Great Britain
German Britannier, Brite
- Britannierancient Celts in the area of modern England and Wales
- Britecitizen of Great Britain
- Britincitizen of Great Britain
Greek Βρετανός, Βρετανή
- Βρετανός (Vretanós)citizen of Great Britain
- Βρετανή (Vretaní)citizen of Great Britain
- Βρετανίδα (Vretanída)citizen of Great Britain
Hebrew בְּרִיטִי, בריטית
- בְּרִיטִי (briti)citizen of Great Britain
- בריטית (britít)citizen of Great Britain
Icelandic Breti
- Breticitizen of Great Britain
Indonesian orang Inggris
- orang Inggriscitizen of Great Britain
Italian Britanni
- Britanniancient Celts in the area of modern England and Wales
Japanese イギリス人
- イギリス人 (igirisujin)citizen of Great Britain
Korean 영국인, 영국 사람
- 영국인 (yeonggugin)citizen of Great Britain
- 영국 사람 (yeongguk saram)citizen of Great Britain
Latin Britannus
- Britannusancient Celts in the area of modern England and Wales
Latvian brits, briti
- britsancient Celts in the area of modern England and Wales
- britiancient Celts in the area of modern England and Wales
- britscitizen of Great Britain
- briticitizen of Great Britain
- britietecitizen of Great Britain
Lithuanian britas, britė
- britascitizen of Great Britain
- britėcitizen of Great Britain
Norwegian Bokmål brite
- britecitizen of Great Britain
Persian بریتانیایی
- بریتانیایی (beritâniyâyi)citizen of Great Britain
Polish Brytyjczyk, Brytyjka
- Brytyjczykcitizen of Great Britain
- Brytyjkacitizen of Great Britain
Portuguese britânico, britânica
- britânicocitizen of Great Britain
- britânicacitizen of Great Britain
Romanian britonici, britanic
- britoniciancient Celts in the area of modern England and Wales
- britaniccitizen of Great Britain
- britanicăcitizen of Great Britain
Russian бритт, брита́нец
- бритт (britt)ancient Celts in the area of modern England and Wales
- брита́нец (británec)citizen of Great Britain
- брита́нка (británka)citizen of Great Britain
Slovak Brit, Britka
- Britcitizen of Great Britain
- Britkacitizen of Great Britain
Spanish britano, británico
- britanoancient Celts in the area of modern England and Wales
- británicocitizen of Great Britain
- británicacitizen of Great Britain
- reinounidensecitizen of Great Britain
Swedish britt
- brittcitizen of Great Britain
Ukrainian брита́нець, брита́нка
- брита́нець (brytánecʹ)citizen of Great Britain
- брита́нка (brytánka)citizen of Great Britain
Vietnamese người Anh
- người Anhcitizen of Great Britain
Welsh Brython, Prydeiniwr
- Brythonancient Celts in the area of modern England and Wales
- Prydeiniwrcitizen of Great Britain
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with Briton
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Cite this entry
Briton. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Briton
“Briton.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Briton. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Briton,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Briton.
Source: Briton on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.