sb. (a.). Also 3 Brytone, Brutone, 5 Breton(e, 6 Bryton, Bryttane, Bruton. [ME. Breton, a. F. breton:—L. Brittōn-em, nom. Britto ‘a native of Britain.’ The most correct L. form was Britto, Brittŏn-em, pl. Brittŏn-es, a. OCeltic *Britto, pl. *Britton-es, whence Welsh collective pl. Brython. The ME. Bryton, Bruton show various etymological influences; the modern Briton is assimilated to the erroneous L. form Brito, pl. Britōn-es, found in MSS. (The earlier name by which the Romans spoke of this people was Britanni, or Brittāni, -anni, which appears to have been a Goidelic name; but after the conquest of Britain, this was gradually superseded by Brittones the name given to themselves by the Brythonic people of the south of the island. Only the latter survived in living use: Bæda’s regular form is Bretto, -ones; and F. Breton represents a L. form with -tt-; Brītōnem, Britōnem, would have given Brion, Breon. The OE. name was Brettas, Bryttas: see BRIT.)]
A. sb. 1. A native of Britain: a. In History and Ethnology: One of the race who occupied the southern part of the island at the Roman invasion, the ‘ancient Britons.’ † b. A Welshman. c. Since the union of England and Scotland: A native of Great Britain, or of the British Empire; much used in the 18th c.; now chiefly in poetic, rhetorical, or melodramatic use, and in phrases dating to the ‘Rule Britannia’ period, as to ‘work like a Briton,’ ‘as tough as a Briton,’ etc. North Briton: a Scotchman.
1297. R. Glouc., 2. Þis was þo in Engolond Brytones [v.r. Brutones] were y-wys.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 1449. Thane the Bretons brothely brochez theire stedez.
c. 1428. Arthur, 15. Bretones ȝaf hym þat name.
1547. J. Harrison, Exhort. Scottes, C j b. As they were called Kynges of Britayne, so was ye general name of the people Brytons. Ibid., G v b. When these hateful termes of Scottes and Englishemen, shalbe abolisshed, and blotted oute for euer, and we shal al agre in the onely title and name of Britons.
1586. Warner, Alb. Eng., II. xiii. 63. He was Father vnto Brute: and thus the Brutons bring Their petigree from Jupiter.
1667. E. Chamberlayne, St. Gt. Brit., I. III. iii. (1743), 161. So the Britons, Hugh ap Owen, [etc.].
1679. Dryden, Tr. & Cress., Prol. 1. See, my loved Britons, see your Shakespeare rise.
1740. Thomson, ‘Rule Britannia.’ Britons never will be slaves.
1760. Geo. III., in G. Rose, Diaries (1860), II. 189. I glory in the name of Briton.
1817. Wolfe, Burial Sir J. Moore, vi. Little he’ll reck if they let him sleep on In the grave where a Briton has laid him.
1839. Thirlwall, Greece, I. 227. The ancient Britons.
1851. D. Wilson, Preh. Ann., II. III. viii. 486. The aboriginal Briton.
1886. Tennyson, Exhib. Ode. Britons, hold your own!
† 2. A Breton or native of Brittany.
† B. adj. = BRITISH. Obs.
1547. J. Harrison, Exhort. Scottes, F ij. In the Englishe and Briton histories.
1571. J. Maitland, Admon. Earl of Mar. Thay forcit the Briton folks to flit.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., II. x. 49. Yet oft the Briton Kings against them [the Romans] strongly swayd.
c. 1605. Rowley, Birth Merlin, IV. v. 344. To enlarge the Briton bounds. Ibid., V. ii. 350. To be invested with the Briton crown.
