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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 .
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 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 name Albion was used by Isidore of Charax (1st century BC – 1st century AD) [9] and subsequently by many classical writers. By the 1st century AD, the name refers unequivocally to Great Britain. But this "enigmatic name for Britain, revived much later by Romantic poets like William Blake, did not remain popular among Greek writers.
The German, [24] the French and the British Commonwealth armies used the name "Tommy" for British soldiers. "Tommy" is derived from the name "Tommy Atkins" which had been used as a generic name for a soldier for many years (and had been used as an example name on British Army registration forms). The precise origin is the subject of some debate ...
A. D. Mills, A Dictionary of British Place Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2003). W. F. H. Nicolaisen, Old European names in Britain, Nomina 6 pp37–42 (1982. P. H. Reaney, The Origin of English Place Names (1960). A. Room, A Concise Dictionary of Modern Place Names in Great Britain (1983). A. Room, Dictionary of World Place Names derived ...
The name is a Latinisation of the native Brittonic word for Great Britain, Pretanī, which also produced the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai. In the 2nd century, Roman Britannia came to be personified as a goddess, armed with a spear and shield and wearing a Corinthian helmet .
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 ...