Obs. Forms: 1 Bret(t, Bryt(t, Brit(t, 4 Brett, 6 Brit, Britt, (9 Hist. Brett). [OE. Bret (pl. Brettas) a Briton: cf. OCeltic (and L.) Britto; but the OE. form points rather to a variant OCelt. stem *Britt-os, whence perh. the Brittia of Procopius. Hence Brettisc, Bryttisc, BRITISH.]
A. sb. A Briton: the ordinary name in the O.E. Chronicle; in Scotland applied to the Strathclyde Britons till c. 1300, when the ‘Laws between the Scots and the Bretts’ were abolished by Edward I.; in later usage only historical. B. adj. British.
O. E. Chron., an. 890. Butueoh Brettum and Francum, and Brettas him wiþ ʓefuhton [Laud MS. Bryttum, Brittas].
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot., II. 230. Brit langage for to speik and vse, So that the Britis culd nocht weill refuse. Ibid., 471. All Albione wes in gude rest and peice; Bot[h] Scot and Brit, and Inglismen also.
c. 1630. Risdon, Surv. Devon, § 225 (1810), 238. ’Twixt Britts and Saxons.
1873. Murray, Dial. S. C. Scotl., 3. The Bretts or Welsh of Strathclyde long retained their special laws as distinct from the laws of Scotland.
