Great Britain

English

Etymology

Of the island of Great Britain, to disambiguate Britain from Brittany, i.e. Lesser Britain. From Middle English Great Brittaigne, Grete Britaigne, Grete breteygne, grete Bretayne, grete breteyne, parallelling Anglo-Norman Grande Brettayne and c. 12th-century Medieval Latin Britannia Maior. Equivalent to Great +‎ Britain.

King James VI and I in 1604 proclaimed himself “King of Great Britain, France and Ireland”.

Pronunciation
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)

Proper noun

Great Britain

  1. The island (and sometimes including some of the surrounding smaller islands) off the north-west coast of Europe made up of England, Scotland, and Wales.
    Synonyms: GB, (literary, Arthurian, rare) Gramarye
    Holonym: British Isles
  2. England, Scotland and Wales in combination.
  3. (historical or loosely) The United Kingdom, or its predecessor the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1801).
  4. (sports) A national sports team representing the United Kingdom in an international competition.
    • 2012, “'Apologise' for Die Stem”, in Sport24‎, South Africa:
      The manager of the London Cup hockey tournament must apologise for playing apartheid anthem "Die Stem" before South Africa's clash with Great Britain, SA Hockey Association chief executive Marissa Langeni said on Wednesday.
    • 2012, Chris Chance, “Great Britain apologizes to South Africa for playing apartheid anthem before field hockey game”, in Yahoo! Sports‎:
      Great Britain apologizes to South Africa for playing apartheid anthem before field hockey game
  5. (sports) The British Olympic Association.
    • 2012, “'Apologise' for Die Stem”, in Sport24‎, South Africa:
      The manager of the London Cup hockey tournament must apologise for playing apartheid anthem "Die Stem" before South Africa's clash with Great Britain, SA Hockey Association chief executive Marissa Langeni said on Wednesday.
    • 2012, Chris Chance, “Great Britain apologizes to South Africa for playing apartheid anthem before field hockey game”, in Yahoo! Sports‎:
      Great Britain apologizes to South Africa for playing apartheid anthem before field hockey game

Derived terms

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See also

Further reading
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