Brittany
proper nounnounattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈbɹɪ.tə.ni//
- United Kingdom//ˈbɹɪt.ni//
- United States/[ˈbɹɪʔn̩.ni]/
- United States/[ˈbɹɪʔni]/
A cultural region, historical province, and peninsula in northwest France.
proper noun
- 1
A cultural region, historical province, and peninsula in northwest France.
First, will I see the Coronation, / And then to Britanny Ile crosse the Sea, / To effect this marriage, so it please my Lord.
So Aurelius Ambrosius and Uther Pendragon fled away to that part of France called Brittany, where they remained in saftey for many years.
- 2
An administrative region of northwest France, including most of the historic region of Brittany.
- 3
obsoleteThe British Isles.
The noble Thamis […] seem'd to stoupe afore / With bowed backe, by reason of the lode / And auncient heavy burden which he bore / Of that faire City, wherein make abode / So many learned impes, that shoote abrode, / And with their braunches spred all Britany […].
- 4
A female given name transferred from the place name, of 1980s and 1990s American usage.
- - - No one has family names. These girls with rooster hair I see on the streets. They pick the names. They're the mothers." "I have a granddaughter named Brittany," Hazel said. " And I have heard of a little girl called Cappuccino." "Cappuccino! Is that true? Why don't they call one Cassaulet? Fettuccini? Alsace-Lorraine?"
Names of the times. Borrowed from soap opera characters of prominence fifteen years ago, who have since been replaced by spiffy new models: the social-climbing Brittany now an unscrupulous Burke, the generous Pamela a refitted, urbanized Parker.
The leading voices of the womanosphere are using a similar strategy. As Brittany Hugoboom put it in an op–ed for the rightwing outlet Quillette: “Conservatives will never win if they imagine themselves as combatants atop defensive battlements, hurling abuse on the mass media. We need to involve ourselves in the creation of pop culture.”
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English Bretany, Brytany, itself borrowed from Medieval Latin Britannia, applied to Brittany from at least the 6th century, and reinforced by Middle French Bretagne. See Britannia for more. Doublet of Britain and Britannia.
noun
- 1
slangA coward.
- 2
A gun dog of a particular breed.
A dish face is not desirable in the Brittany. A dished or upturned muzzle is considered a fault in the Redbone Coonhound.
Forms
- plural
- Brittanies
Brittany · A cultural region, historical province, and peninsula in northwest France.
brittle · Inflexible; liable to break, snap, or shatter easily under…Brittle · A surname.bro · Brother (a male sibling).