Britannia

Meaning

1. feminineBritain (a region of Western Europe, the country of the Britons)
2. feminineGreat Britain (an island of Western Europe)
3. feminineBritannia (a province of the Roman Empire in Western Europe, on the island of Great Britain)
4. Medieval LatinfeminineBrittany (a region and peninsula in modern France, populated by speakers of Breton)
5. Medieval LatinfeminineWales (a region in the modern United Kingdom, populated by speakers of Welsh)

Declension

Origins

Attested from the 1st century BCE, directly or from Ancient Greek Βρεττανία (Brettanía), Πρεττανία (Prettanía) (in Diodorus), earlier νῆσος Πρεττανική (nêsos Prettanikḗ) or Βρεττανίαι (Brettaníai), used by Pytheas (4th century BCE) of the entire archipelago now known as the British Isles. The Ancient Greek name is ultimately from a Celtic ethnonym, reconstructed as early Brythonic *Pritani, perhaps from a Proto-Celtic *Kʷritanī, *Kʷritenī, whence Welsh Prydyn (“Picts”), Middle Irish Cruithne, Cruithen-túaith (“Picts”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷer- (“to do”).