Great Britain is an island. Colloquially it is sometimes used as the name of the country, as the Encyclopaedia Britannica suggests ("although the name Britain is sometimes used to refer to the United Kingdom as a whole").
And in case you missed the post to GOPc, the term "Great Britain," as used in its present form, is attributable to James I of England.
...as in the political entity that formed upon the ascension of James, already King of Scotland, to the throne of England and Wales as well thus creating Great Britain - the kingdom consisting of a unified Albany, Cambria, and Loegria located on the island of Britannia, or Britanniae Major as the latins called it - the home of the Britons.
Why sure, I was on Ireland, the greatest of all the islands.
I lived for a few years in Northern Ireland. I was married in Northern Ireland. My children were born in Northern Ireland. I also lived for several years in Scotland. I also served in a NATO command which was about one-third BA/RN/RAF and one-third USA/USN/USAF.
[cr #2991] Great Britain is an island.
As a political entity, Great Britain is comprised of more than one island. For example, it would include the Shetland Islands and the Orkney Islands.
[cr #2991] Colloquially it is sometimes used as the name of the country, as the Encyclopaedia Britannica suggests ("although the name Britain is sometimes used to refer to the United Kingdom as a whole").
What is used and what is accurate are not necessarily the same. In Europe, all Americans are Yanks or Yankees. Europeans "know" that Americans are Yankees. When a European of limited English and limited knowledge of U.S. history uses the term Yankee, it may be amusing to watch a gentleman of the Southern persuasion attempt to explain the he is not a Yankee.
Britain cannot be correctly used to refer to the United Kingdom as a whole. The Irish are not British, either geographically or ethnically. The Irish are Celts, pronounced with a hard c as if spelled kelts.
The term British is applied generically sometimes, as no equivalent term exists, such as UKish. Referring to the British Army is perfectly acceptable. In Northern Ireland, calling a Catholic British will draw a vigorous dissent, without fail.
Once it is pointed out by a Scot, a visiting Yank may notice something on British television. When a Scot or a Welshman achieves something good, the do-gooder is referred to as British. However, if he does something bad or criminal, then the do-badder is referred to as a Scot or Welshman.
The people of Scotland are not Scotch. They will tell you so. Scotch is a divine liquid given to them by the gods and stored in bottles. The people are Scottish.
The term Great Britain is distinct from Petit Britain or Brittania Minor. Part of ancient Britain is in France.
As a United Nations member state, the official title is: "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland." [ LINK ]
Some sources note that GB appears acceptable to the International Olympic Committee. They are not an international political body any more than is FIFA, the International Football (Soccer) Association. In the World Cup, governed by FIFA, the nations of the world compete. As an oddity, from the UK come the nations of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, each fielding its own national team and competing as a separate nation under its own national flag.
[cr #2991] And in case you missed the post to GOPc, the term "Great Britain," as used in its present form, is attributable to James I of England.
Here your assertion is clearly incorrect. The term was first officially used by King James, but it originated centuries earlier.
LINKWhy "Great" Britain rather than Britain?
There are in fact two Britains: the island of Britain in the British Isles and the land of Britain in France. In French these are known as Grande Bretagne and Bretagne, in English as Great Britain and Brittany. The word "Great" in this context has its old meaning of "big" as in "she was great with child" or "Greater London". Likewise, the ending "-y" on the end of "Brittany" has the meaning "Little", as in "doggy", meaning "small dog", or "Jimmy", meaning "little Jim". During medieval times, the British Isles were referred to as Britannia major and Britannia minor (as in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae). The term "Bretayne the grete" was used by chroniclers as early as 1338, but it was not used officially until King James I proclaimed himself "King of Great Britain" on 20 October 1604 to avoid the more cumbersome title "King of England and Scotland".
From about the 16th century to the 20th century, the political and/or military control of Great Britain and the United Kingdom extended over a large number of territories all around the world, and all those entities together were known as the "British Empire".
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LINKThe word Britain is used to refer to
- the United Kingdom (UK): i.e. the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (from 1927), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801-1927) or the United Kingdom of Great Britain (1707-1801).
- the island of Great Britain (with its outlying islands) consisting of the countries of England, Scotland, and Wales. Note that Great Britain is (usually) an incorrect way of referring to the United Kingdom, as Great Britain is only the large island which constitutes most of the country's territory.
The word British can indicate association with Britain in either of the above senses (i.e. the country or the island), or with
- the British Empire and its forces, which at one time included a quarter of the world's population,
- the brythonic Celts of Great Britain (the "ancient Britons", distinct from the goidelic Celts of Ireland), or
- the British Isles
Evolution of the words
The meanings of Britain and British have evolved over time and as they have gained political significance.
In 325 BC the Greek Pytheas of Massalia visited a group of islands which he called Pretaniké, the principal ones being Albionon (Albion) and Ierne (Erin). (The records of this visit date from much more recent times, so there is room for these details to be disputed.) To linguists, this suggests the Brythonic inhabitants called themselves Priteni.
In manuscripts of the Anglo-Saxon chronicle there is a reference to the inhabitants having migrated to the islands from "Armenia" but most historians believe this was a mistake in transcription and that the actual origin of the islanders was Armorica.
Because of resistance to Roman rule in Armorica (which was supported by Celtic aristocrats in the islands) Julius Caesar responded with two invasions of the main island in 55 and 54 BC.
Some believe that when the Romans took over the southern part of Great Britain they named the island after the Brigantes, one of the largest Celtic Tribes.
However the Romans derived the name, they called their possessions Britannia. The earlier Celtic inhabitants became known as Britons and the island as Britain. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the name Britannia largely fell into abeyance and tended to be used in an historical sense, referring to the Roman possessions.
Some centuries after the Romans had left, some of the Britons returned to the near continent. Further centuries later Geoffrey of Monmouth used the names Britannia minor to refer to the Armorican region they had returned to and Britannia major for the island. Only by the late Middle Ages did the concept of "Britain" come to represent anything more modern than the Romans. By then, the continental region was known as Brittany and the island as Great Britain (compare the French names Bretagne and Grande Bretagne).
The kingdoms established on the island of Great Britain were perceived to be dominant over the whole archipelago, which was known as the British Isles. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the queen's astrologer and alchemist, John Dee, wrote mystical volumes predicting a British Empire and using the terms "Great Britain" and "Britannia". After Elizabeth's death in 1603 the kingdoms shared one King, James VI of Scotland and I of England. On 20 October 1604 he proclaimed himself "King of Great Brittaine" (thus including Wales and also avoiding the cumbersome title "King of England and Scotland"). This title was eventually adopted formally in 1707 when the Kingdom of Great Britain was formed. The adjective used for the kingdom was British.
Since its formation, the kingdom was enlarged in 1801 by the addition of the island of Ireland - already ruled by the British monarchy to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland - and was then reduced in 1922 by the independence of the Irish Free State, now the Republic of Ireland. The name of the kingdom changed accordingly, in 1927, becoming The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. To some writers the meaning of British and Britain have changed with the Kingdom. The words British citizen is now used to indicate United Kingdom(UK) nationality because there is no suitable substitute. However, to other writers Britain is still synonymous with only the island of Great Britain.
Other terms also cause confusion. Great Britain is indisputedly the name of the large island, but is occasionally used to mean the UK, for instance in the modern Olympic Games. As abbreviations, both UK and GB are often used for the United Kingdom, while GB is only rarely restricted to Great Britain. The British Isles is still a geographical term for the archipelago, but it can also still be seen as implying dominance by Great Britain, so it is sometimes avoided. The prefix Anglo, historically meaning English, is sometimes used to denote the UK, as in Anglo-Irish. See the respective articles.