british

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: Brit=ish

CIDE DICTIONARY

british, a. [AS. Brittisc, Bryttisc.].

 Of or pertaining to Great Britain or to its inhabitants; -- sometimes restricted to the original inhabitants.  [1913 Webster]

British gum, a brownish substance, very soluble in cold water, formed by heating dry starch at a temperature of about 600° Fahr. It corresponds, in its properties, to dextrin, and is used, in solution, as a substitute for gum in stiffering goods. -- British lion, the national emblem of Great Britain. -- British seas, the four seas which surround Great Britain.

british, n. pl. 

 People of Great Britain.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

british, adj. & n.
--adj.
1 of or relating to Great Britain or the United Kingdom, or to its people or language.
2 of the British Commonwealth or (formerly) the British Empire (British subject).
--n.
1 (prec. by the; treated as pl.) the British people.
2 US = British English.

Idiom

British English English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere. British Legion = Royal British Legion. British summer time = summer time (see SUMMER(1)). British thermal unit see THERMAL.

Derivative

Britishness n.

Etymology

OE Brettisc etc. f. Bret f. L Britto or OCelt.

ROGET THESAURUS

british

Inhabitant

N inhabitant, resident, residentiary, dweller, indweller, addressee, occupier, occupant, householder, lodger, inmate, tenant, incumbent, sojourner, locum tenens, commorant, settler, squatter, backwoodsman, colonist, islander, denizen, citizen, burgher, oppidan, cockney, cit, townsman, burgess, villager, cottager, cottier, cotter, compatriot, backsettler, boarder, hotel keeper, innkeeper, habitant, paying guest, planter, native, indigene, aborigines, autochthones, Englishman, John Bull, newcomer, aboriginal, American, Caledonian, Cambrian, Canadian, Canuck, downeaster, Scot, Scotchman, Hibernian, Irishman, Welshman, Uncle Sam, Yankee, Brother Jonathan, garrison, crew, population, people, colony, settlement, household, mir, indigenous, native, natal, autochthonal, autochthonous, British, English, American, Canadian, Irish, Scotch, Scottish, Welsh, domestic, domiciliated, domiciled, naturalized, vernacular, domesticated, domiciliary, in the occupation of, garrisoned by, occupied by.