The word British is an adjective referring in various ways to the United Kingdom, or the island of Great Britain, and its people.
- Geography
- British Isles, an archipelago in north-western Europe
- British Islands, a legal term describing the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, collectively
- British Commonwealth, an organisation of member-states mostly from the former British Empire
- British Columbia, a province of Canada
- People
- British people, Britons, or Brits, subjects of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, one of the Channel Islands, or of one of the British overseas territories, and their descendants
- Britons (historical), ancient Celtic inhabitants of the island of Great Britain south of the Firth of Forth.
- British nationality law, which governs the citizens of the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the British Crown dependencies
- Language
- British English, the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom
- British language (Celtic), also known as Brythonic, the ancient Celtic language once spoken in Britain, ancestral to Welsh, Cornish and Breton
- History
- British Raj, rule of India in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century
- British Empire (historical), the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom when it was an imperial power
- Other
- British cuisine
- British Airways, flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom
Famous quotes containing the word british:
“It’s like the Beatles coming together again—let’s hope they don’t go on a world tour.”
—Matt Frei, British journalist. Quoted in Listener (London, June 21, 1990)
“The British blockade won the war; but the wonder is that the British blockhead did not lose it. I suppose the enemy was no wiser. War is not a sharpener of wits.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“A certain secret jealousy of the British Minister is always lurking in the breast of every American Senator, if he is truly democratic; for democracy, rightly understood, is the government of the people, by the people, for the benefit of Senators, and there is always a danger that the British Minister may not understand this political principle as he should.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)