Britain Reference library
Concise Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain
... 1881: 178; London; Lancs and WR Yorks; Staffs. Norman, English: see Brittain...
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World Encyclopedia
... ( Great Britain ) Kingdom in nw Europe, officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . It comprises England , Scotland , Wales , Northern Ireland , the Channel Islands , and the Isle of Man...
Britain Reference library
Dictionary of American Family Names (2 ed.)
... US frequency (2010): 942 English (of Norman origin): variant of Brittain...
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A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology
... , Great Britain . . The largest of the British Isles, including what is now called England , Wales , and Scotland . Until Roman times the island's inhabitants were dominantly Brythonic Celts, ancestors of the modern Welsh and Cornish. For that reason the word Prydain [W, Britain] in early Welsh narrative usually denotes all of Britain, not just the Welsh-speaking areas. The concept of Wales [W Cymru ] as a nation distinct from Britain came later. The OIr. Bretain, ModIr. Breatain, ScG Breatunn, and Corn. Breten may mean all of Britain or ...
Britain Reference library
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable (19 ed.)
... An anglicized form of Britannia, the Roman name for what is now Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland). In the 4th century bc the inhabitants were known as Prettanoi, and under the Roman occupation they were known as Brittani. The name ‘Great Britain’ was first officially used in 1604 , when James I was proclaimed ‘King of Great Britain’. It had been used earlier by some writers, however, to distinguish the island from Britannia Minor, or Brittany, in France. Battle of Britain, The See under battle . Little Britain See under little . Matter...
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A Dictionary of World History (3 ed.)
... (in full Great Britain ) The island containing England, Wales, and Scotland, and including the small adjacent islands. After the Old English period ‘Britain’ was used only as an historical term until about the time of Henry VIII and Edward VI, when it came into practical politics in connection with the efforts made to unite England and Scotland. In 1604 James I was proclaimed ‘King of Great Britain’, and this name was adopted for the United Kingdom at the Union of 1707 , after which ‘South Britain’ and ‘North Britain’ were frequent in Acts of...
Britain Reference library
The Oxford Companion to Wine (5 ed.)
... , or Great Britain , has long been one of the most important markets for wine. It regularly imports more wine than any country other than Germany and has shown unusually healthy growth in wine consumption since the late 20th century. Its long wine- merchant tradition has made it one of the most discerning, yet open-minded, wine-consuming nations, and London has been an important centre for wine auctions and fine wine trading. Domestic vine-growing in England and Wales has now grown to a scale where most supermarkets and independent wine merchants...
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A Dictionary of Buddhism
... Society of Great Britain and Ireland in 1907 with his mission to England in 1908 . The Theravāda form of Buddhism was predominant in Britain until the middle of the 20th century when other groups, notably zen and Tibetan ( see Tibet ), began to arrive. Britain has not been affected by mass Buddhist immigration since most of the Asian immigrants to the United Kingdom have been Hindus and Muslims. In contrast to the USA ( see America ), there are only around 50,000 refugees from Indo-China in Britain. The majority of British Buddhists are therefore...
Britain Quick reference
Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Place Names (6 ed.)
...Britain , ( Albion, Britannia ) Albion (in Latin, Albionum) was the first known name for Britain, possibly taken from the Latin albus ‘white’, a reference to the white cliffs that sailors saw as they approached Dover, the shortest route across the English Channel from the continent; or, less likely, it may be taken from the Indo-European root word alb ‘mountain’. Britannia ‘Land of the Britons’ was the Roman name for modern England, Scotland and Wales. The Greeks recorded the name as Pretaniké and referred to the inhabitants of the island as Prittanoi...
Britain Reference library
The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature (3 ed.)
...Once more Britain had a firm government and secure defences, but the growing power of invaders from outside the empire threatened all Europe and from 383 there were repeated withdrawals of troops from Britain to defend Italy. There was considerable decline in the later fourth century, and soon after 400 effective occupation of Hadrian's Wall had ceased. The cessation of Roman rule in Britain was rapid but perhaps not sudden—it may have been spread over several decades. By c. 450 the invaders were in Britain to stay. 5. Local government in Britain under the...
Britain Reference library
The Oxford Companion to Politics of the World (2 ed.)
...Dilemmas of State Formation. Britain is the largest of the British Isles, a group of islands off the northwest coast of Europe, and encompasses England, Scotland, and Wales. The second largest island comprises Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland . Britain is shorthand for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK). The term Great Britain includes England, Wales, and Scotland, but not Northern Ireland. Covering an area of approximately 244,000 square kilometers (94,000 sq. mi.), Britain is roughly two-thirds the size of...
Britain Reference library
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome
...at Londinium, Lindum, Corinium [Cirencester], and Eboracum). A further subdivision, Valentia, is known in the fourth century in northern Britain, but its exact location is unknown. The End of Roman Britain. Britain was a relatively peaceful province during the later Empire, but it did see a number of usurpers, notably Carausius ( r. 286–293 ) and Allectus ( r. 293–296 ), who created a separate empire centered on Britain. The piecemeal construction of the so-called Saxon Shore forts along the southeast coast may have been related to this breakaway empire, or...
Britain Reference library
Joel Krieger
The Oxford Companion to International Relations
... Britain is the largest of the British Isles, a group of islands off the northwest coast of Europe that encompasses England, Scotland, and Wales. The second largest island includes Northern Ireland and the independent Republic of Ireland. The term “Great Britain” includes England, Wales, and Scotland but not Northern Ireland. We use the term “Britain” as shorthand for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Britain covers an area of approximately 94,000 square miles (243,459 sq km), roughly two-thirds the area of Japan or approximately...
Britain Reference library
Joel Krieger
The Oxford Companion to Comparative Politics
... Britain is the largest of the British Isles, a group of islands off the northwest coast of Europe that encompasses England, Scotland, and Wales. The second largest island includes Northern Ireland and the independent Republic of Ireland. The term “Great Britain” includes England, Wales, and Scotland but not Northern Ireland. We use the term “Britain” as shorthand for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Britain covers an area of approximately 94,000 square miles (243,459 sq km), roughly two-thirds the area of Japan or approximately...
Britain Reference library
Brown Pete
The Oxford Companion to Beer
...that is at the same time quintessentially British and yet so unlike other aspects of the country, the British pub (and the British beer that fuels it) has become famous worldwide. According to some studies, it is second only to the Royal Family in attractions that lure foreign tourists to British shores. Britain was notable in that for almost a hundred years, it resisted the tide of commercial lager brewing that swept around the world from Pilsen and Bavaria during the late 19th century. But in the 1970s Britain did succumb to lager, and cask ale was...
Britain (400–1100) Reference library
The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature
... ( 400–1100 ) The various post-Roman inhabitants of Britain – British, Pictish, Anglo-Saxon, Viking – practiced versions of “nature religion,” in that they held polytheistic beliefs focused on diffused, often undeveloped cult sites in the landscape. These beliefs, unlike similar ones in recent traditional societies, have left only the most tenuous physical traces or written comment, the latter by ecclesiastics concerned not only to blot out remnants of paganism, but even to downplay the assimilation of traditional rituals into popular Christianity. This...
Britain Reference library
Stephen P. Lock and Gordon Macpherson
The Oxford Companion to Medicine (3 ed.)
...supported and encouraged. Dawson, Bertrand Edward ( 1864–1945 ). British physician . Dawson was appointed physician to the London Hospital in 1906 . The following year he became physician-extraordinary to Edward VII and later to George V , whose death he hastened by a few hours to save prolonging the final phase. During the First World War he served as consulting physician to the British army. He became president of the Royal College of Physicians of London from 1931–8 , of the British Medical Association in 1932 and 1943 , and of the Royal Society...
Britain Reference library
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology
... [This entry contains nine subentries, on British sources from 500–1000 , 1000–1300 , and 1300–1500 ; an overview of British military history from 500–1000 , 1000–1300 , and 1300–1500 ; and on British historiography from 500–1066 , 1000–1300 , and 1300–1500 .] Sources (500–1000) The sources for military history in Britain comprise literary and archaeological records. Each has its unique strengths and weaknesses and must be treated with caution. The geographical and chronological spread of available sources is often patchy and sparse, and their...
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Oxford Essential Quotations (6 ed.)
...is our task? To make Britain a fit country for heroes to live in. David Lloyd George 1863 – 1945 British Liberal statesman ; Prime Minister, 1916–22 speech at Wolverhampton, 23 November 1918 Britain a fit country Britain a fit country fit country for heroes Fifty years on from now, Britain will still be the country of long shadows on county [ cricket ] grounds, warm beer, invincible green suburbs, dog lovers, and—as George Orwell said—old maids bicycling to Holy Communion through the morning mist. John Major 1943 – British Conservative ...
Great Britain Quick reference
A Dictionary of British History (3 ed.)
...Britain The geographical term Great Britain was used to distinguish the largest of the British Isles from Brittany, or Little Britain. When James I succeeded Elizabeth in 1603 he proposed that the union of the crowns should be followed by a governmental union and suggested the name Great Britain. Though the English Parliament could not be brought to agree, James adopted the name by proclamation and used it on his coinage. It was given statutory authority by the Act of Union with Scotland in 1707 . This usage lasted until the Act of Union with Ireland...
