Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The name Britain originates from the Common Brittonic term *Pritanī and is one of the oldest known names for Great Britain, an island off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The terms Briton and British , similarly derived, refer to some or all of its inhabitants and, to varying extents, those of the smaller islands in the vicinity .
The name Britain descends from the Latin name for Britain, Britannia or Brittānia, the land of the Britons. [19] Old French Bretaigne (whence also Modern French Bretagne) and Middle English Bretayne, Breteyne. The French form replaced the Old English Breoton, Breoten, Bryten, Breten (also Breoton-lond, Breten-lond). Britannia was used by the ...
The end of Roman rule in Britain facilitated the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, which historians often regard as the origin of England and of the English people. The Anglo-Saxons , a collection of various Germanic peoples , established several kingdoms that became the primary powers in present-day England and parts of southern Scotland . [ 3 ]
This article lists a number of common generic forms in place names in the British Isles, their meanings and some examples of their use. The study of place names is called toponymy ; for a more detailed examination of this subject in relation to British and Irish place names, refer to Toponymy in the United Kingdom and Ireland .
The history of the United Kingdom begins in 1707 with the Treaty of Union and Acts of Union.The core of the United Kingdom as a unified state came into being with the political union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland, [1] into a new unitary state called Great Britain.
Greek and Roman writers, in the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, name the inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland as the Priteni, [45] the origin of the Latin word Britanni. It has been suggested that this name derives from a Gaulish description translated as "people of the forms", referring to the custom of tattooing or painting their ...
The Britons (*Pritanī, Latin: Britanni, Welsh: Brythoniaid), also known as Celtic Britons [1] or Ancient Britons, were the Celtic people [2] who inhabited Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age until the High Middle Ages, at which point they diverged into the Welsh, Cornish, and Bretons (among others). [2]
The origin of place names of the countries within Britain are discussed below. Each country is divided into a number of counties. Further information: List of generic forms in place names in the United Kingdom and Ireland and Etymological list of counties of the United Kingdom