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The earliest known names for the islands that make up present day Britain come from Greek and Roman writings. These classical writers referred to the inhabitants as the Priteni or Pretani, which is most likely from a Celtic language term that means "the people of the forms" and Pretannia as a place name was Diodorus's (a famous Greek historian who wrote extensively in the 1st century BC)rendering in Greek of this self description by the native people. "The people of the forms" is believed to be a reference to the practice by the inhabitants of painting or tattooing their skin. From this name a collective term for the islands was derived, appearing as Pretanic Islands and Brittanic Isles. Variations of all these terms are still used. Caesar introduced the term Britannia following his invasion of the Isles in 55 BC.

Britain comes from Sanskrit word "Brihatstan" meaning great place. That is why Great was added in front of Britain to accentuate the original meaning!
the name Britain comes from the Latin name Brittania,

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8y ago
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10y ago

Britain is the name of the island upon which the kingdoms of Scotland and England are located. The term Great Britain was first used by James VI of Scotland I of England, the heir to Elizabeth I. After his accession to the English throne, he ruled Scotland, England and Ireland in personal union. Scotland and England remained sovereign states with their own parliaments and legal systems, but with James as sovereign. He called himself King of Great Britain and Ireland to reflect the union that his reign created. The Kingdom of Great Britain officially came into existence under Queen Anne and the Acts of Union of 1707 (uniting Scotland and England) and of 1801 (bringing the kingdom of Ireland into the union).

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10y ago

Originally, there was the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland. When these two kingdoms merged in 1604 under James VI of Scotland who became James I of England, they became known as the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Kingdom of Ireland was added in 1801 and the name changed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. When the Republic of Ireland was created, the present name of 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' became the official name of the country.

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13y ago

The Romans called it Londinium, based on what the people who originally lived there had called it. It was adopted by the Anglo Saxons as Lundenwick and later shortened to London.

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13y ago

2000 years ago from the Roman name Britannia.

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13y ago

comes from roman word britannia

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Q: How did Britain get its name?
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What was Britain called before the name Britain was universally accepted?

Brittania


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As Britain is the name of a place. yes, it is a proper noun.


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