Britto

Latin

Alternative forms

Brītō

Etymology

As Brittānia from the 1st century BCE, from Ancient Greek Πρεττανία (Prettanía), used by Diodorus, earlier νῆσος (nêsos) Πρεττανική (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”), Old Irish Cruthne, Cru(i)then-túath (“Picts”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷer- (“to do”).

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈbrit.toː/, [ˈbrɪt̪ːoː]

(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈbrit.to/, [ˈbrit̪ːo]

Noun

Brittō m (genitive Brittōnis); third declension

An inhabitant of Britain, a Briton.
An inhabitant of Brittany, a Breton.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	Brittō	Brittōnēs
Genitive	Brittōnis	Brittōnum
Dative	Brittōnī	Brittōnibus
Accusative	Brittōnem	Brittōnēs
Ablative	Brittōne	Brittōnibus
Vocative	Brittō	Brittōnēs

Related terms

Britannia
britannicus
britannus
Britannus, genitive singular and nominative plural Britannī

Descendants

Because Brittany (“Little Britain”) was settled at the end of the Roman era by migrants from Britain, the original descendants of Brittō often have the meaning "an inhabitant of Brittany", with a later reborrowing from Classical Latin being used to form the word for "an inhabitant of Great Britain".

Asturian: bretón
Catalan: bretó, britó
English: Breton, Briton
French: Breton
Italian: bretone
Old Portuguese: breton
- Galician: bretón
- Portuguese: bretão
Spanish: bretón
→ Proto-Brythonic: *Brɨθon (see there for further descendants)

References

“Britto or Brīto”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Brītŏnes (Britt-) in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette: “228/3”
“Brit(t)ō” on page 242/3 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)