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British

Brit·ish[ˈbɹɪɾɪʃ]noun, adjective

British is spelled B-R-I-T-I-S-H: 7 letters and 2 syllables (Brit·ish). It appears 151 times per million words in written English, the 679th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, British means “The residents or inhabitants of Great Britain” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in British?

Letters7: B-R-I-T-I-S-H
Syllables2: Brit·ish
In writing151 times per million words; the 679th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is British?

British appears 151 times per million words in written English, the 679th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce British?

  • /ˈbɹɪtɪʃ/
  • UK [ˈbɹɪtɪʃ]
  • US [ˈbɹɪɾɪʃ]

British has 2 syllables, split Brit·ish in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-British.ogg, En-us-British.oga, En-us-British.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of British

  • Brittish
  • more British comparative
  • most British superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does British mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The residents or inhabitants of Great Britain.

  2. 2

    The citizens or inhabitants of the United Kingdom.

  3. 3

    The earlier inhabitants of southern Britain, prior to the Anglo-Saxon invasion and subsequent migrations.

  4. 4

    obsoleteSynonym of Welsh: the Welsh people.

adjective

  1. 1

    Of Britain.

  2. 2

    Of the United Kingdom.

  3. 3

    Of the Commonwealth of Nations, or the British Empire.

  4. 4

    informalproscribedOf England; English.

  5. 5

    Of the ancient inhabitants of the southern part of Britain; Brythonic.

  6. 6

    Of the British Isles.

  7. 7

    Of British English.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

British in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
FrenchBritannique (citizens or inhabitants of Britain), britannique (of Britain)
GermanBriten, Brite, Britin (citizens or inhabitants of Britain), britisch, großbritannisch (of Britain)
Portuguesebritânicos (citizens or inhabitants of Britain), britânico (of Britain), britões, bretões (history: ancient inhabitants of the southern…), britônico (history: of the ancient inhabitants of the…)
Spanishbritánicos (citizens or inhabitants of Britain), británico (of Britain), britanos (history: ancient inhabitants of the southern…), britano (history: of the ancient inhabitants of the…), reinounidenses (the citizens or inhabitants of the UK), reinounidense (colloquial: of the UK)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does British come from?

From Middle English Brittish, from Old English Brettisċ. The spelling with single -t- appears in the 13th century under the influence of Medieval Latin Britannicus, but spelling with -tt- persists alongside -t- during the 13th to at least 18th centuries. In reference to the island of Great Britain from ca. 1400 (Latin natio Anglica sive Britannica, Brittisshe occean 1398, the Britishe nacion 1548). As a noun, referring to the British people, British soldiers, etc. from ca. 1600.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after British