Great Britain

===Toponymy===
{{Main|Britain (place name)}}
The [[archipelago]] has been referred to by a single name for over 2000 years: the term '[[British Isles]]' derives from terms used by classical geographers to describe this island group. By 50 BC, Greek geographers were using equivalents of ''Prettanikē'' as a collective name for the British Isles.<ref>{{Harvnb|O'Rahilly| 1946}}</ref> However, with the [[Roman conquest of Britain]], the Latin term ''[[Britannia]]'' was used for the island of Great Britain, and later [[Roman Britain|Roman-occupied Britain]] south of [[Caledonia]].<ref>[[s:Commentaries on the Gallic War/Book 4#20|4.20]] provides a translation describing Caesar's first invasion, using terms which from [[s:la:Commentarii de bello Gallico/Liber IV|IV.XX]] appear in [[Latin]] as arriving in "Britannia", the inhabitants being "Britanni", and on p30 "principes Britanniae" (i.e., "chiefs of Britannia") is translated as "chiefs of Britain".</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Cunliffe|2002|pp=94–95}}</ref><ref name="sax1">{{cite web | title = Anglo-Saxons | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/anglo_saxons/ | work = BBC News | access-date = 5 September 2009}}</ref>

The earliest known name for Great Britain is ''[[Albion]]'' ({{lang-el|Ἀλβιών}}) or ''insula Albionum'', from either the Latin ''albus'' meaning "white" (possibly referring to the [[white cliffs of Dover]], the first view of Britain from the continent) or the "island of the ''Albiones''".<ref name="snyder">{{Cite book
 | last = Snyder
 | first = Christopher A.
 | title = The Britons
 | publisher = [[Blackwell Publishing]]
 | year = 2003
 | page = [https://archive.org/details/britons00snyd/page/12 12]
 | isbn = 978-0-631-22260-6
 | url = https://archive.org/details/britons00snyd/page/12
 }}</ref> The oldest mention of terms related to Great Britain was by [[Aristotle]] (384–322 BC), or possibly by [[Pseudo-Aristotle]], in his text ''[[On the Universe]]'', Vol. III. To quote his works, "There are two very large islands in it, called the British Isles, Albion and [[Ierne (placename)|Ierne]]".<ref>"... ἐν τούτῳ γε μὴν νῆσοι μέγιστοι τυγχάνουσιν οὖσαι δύο, Βρεττανικαὶ λεγόμεναι, Ἀλβίων καὶ Ἰέρνη, ...", transliteration "... en toutôi ge mên nêsoi megistoi tynchanousin ousai dyo, Brettanikai legomenai, Albiôn kai Iernê, ...", ''Aristotle: On Sophistical Refutations. On Coming-to-be and Passing Away. On the Cosmos.'', 393b, pages 360–361, Loeb Classical Library No. 400, London William Heinemann LTD, Cambridge, Massachusetts University Press MCMLV</ref>

[[Image:Pythéas.jpg|thumb|right|[[Ancient Greece|Greek]] geographer, [[Pytheas of Massalia]]]]

The first known written use of the word Britain was an [[ancient Greek]] [[transliteration]] of the original Proto-Celtic term in a work on the travels and discoveries of Pytheas that has not survived. The earliest existing records of the word are quotations of the periplus by later authors, such as those within Strabo's ''[[Geographica]]'', Pliny's ''[[Naturalis Historia|Natural History]]'' and Diodorus of Sicily's ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]''.<ref>Book I.4.2–4, Book II.3.5, Book III.2.11 and 4.4, Book IV.2.1, Book IV.4.1, Book IV.5.5, Book VII.3.1</ref> [[Pliny the Elder]] (AD 23–79) in his ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'' records of Great Britain: "Its former name was Albion; but at a later period, all the islands, of which we shall just now briefly make mention, were included under the name of 'Britanniæ.'"<ref name="PlinyE(4.41)">Pliny the Elder's ''Naturalis Historia'' Book IV. Chapter XLI [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Plin.+Nat.+4.41&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0138 Latin text] and
[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D4%3Achapter%3D30 English translation], numbered Book 4, Chapter 30,
at the [[Perseus Project]].</ref>

The name ''Britain'' descends from the Latin name for Britain, ''Britannia'' or ''Brittānia'', the land of the Britons.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why is Britain Called Britain? |url=https://www.these-islands.co.uk/publications/i281/why_is_britain_called_britain.aspx |access-date=25 August 2023 |website=www.these-islands.co.uk}}</ref> [[Old French]] ''Bretaigne'' (whence also [[Modern French]] ''Bretagne'') and [[Middle English]] ''Bretayne'', ''Breteyne''. The French form replaced the [[Old English]] ''Breoton, Breoten, Bryten, Breten'' (also ''Breoton-lond, Breten-lond''). Britannia was used by the Romans from the 1st century BC for the British Isles taken together. It is derived from the travel writings of Pytheas around 320 BC, which described various islands in the North Atlantic as far north as [[Thule]] (probably [[Norway]]).

The peoples of these islands of ''Prettanike'' were called the Πρεττανοί, ''[[Priteni]]'' or ''Pretani''.<ref name=snyder/>
''Priteni'' is the source of the [[Welsh language]] term [[Prydain]], ''Britain'', which has the same source as the [[Goidelic languages|Goidelic]] term [[Cruithne (people)|Cruithne]] used to refer to the early [[Brythonic languages|Brythonic]]-speaking inhabitants of Ireland.<ref>{{Cite book
 | editor-last = Foster
 | editor-first = R F
 | first1 = Donnchadh, Professor of Irish History at University College Cork
 | last1 = O Corrain
 | chapter = Chapter 1: ''Prehistoric and Early Christian Ireland''
 | title = The Oxford History of Ireland
 | publisher = Oxford University Press
 | date = 1 November 2001
| isbn = 978-0-19-280202-6
 | url = https://archive.org/details/oxfordhistoryofi00rffo
 }}</ref> The latter were later called [[Picts]] or [[Caledonians]] by the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]]. Greek historians [[Diodorus of Sicily]] and [[Strabo]] preserved variants of ''Prettanike'' from the work of Greek explorer [[Pytheas]] of [[Marseille|Massalia]], who travelled from his home in [[Hellenistic]] southern [[Gaul]] to Britain in the 4th century BC. The term used by Pytheas may derive from a Celtic word meaning "the painted ones" or "the tattooed folk" in reference to [[woad|body decorations]].<ref>Cunliffe, Barry (2012). ''Britain Begins.'' Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 4, {{ISBN|978-0-19-967945-4}}.</ref> According to Strabo, Pytheas referred to Britain as ''Bretannikē'', which is treated a feminine noun.<ref name=LSJBrettanike>{{LSJ|*bretaniko/s|Βρεττανική|ref}}</ref><ref name=Strabo(1.4.2)>Strabo's ''Geography'' Book I. Chapter IV. Section 2 [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0197%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D4%3Asection%3D2 Greek text] and [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D4%3Asection%3D2 English translation] at the [[Perseus Project]].</ref><ref name=Strabo(4.2.1)>Strabo's ''Geography'' Book IV. Chapter II. Section 1 [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0197%3Abook%3D4%3Achapter%3D2%3Asection%3D1 Greek text] and [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239%3Abook%3D4%3Achapter%3D2%3Asection%3D1 English translation] at the [[Perseus Project]].</ref><ref name=Strabo(4.4.1)>Strabo's ''Geography'' Book IV. Chapter IV. Section 1 [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0197%3Abook%3D4%3Achapter%3D4%3Asection%3D1 Greek text] and [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239%3Abook%3D4%3Achapter%3D4%3Asection%3D1 English translation] at the [[Perseus Project]].</ref> [[Marcian of Heraclea]], in his ''Periplus maris exteri'', described the island group as {{lang|grc|αἱ Πρεττανικαὶ νῆσοι}} (the Prettanic Isles).<ref name=MarcianPeriplus>{{cite book|title=Geographi Graeci Minores|volume= 1|chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/geographigraeci03mlgoog#page/n680/mode/2up|author1=[[Marcian of Heraclea|Marcianus Heracleensis]]|last2=Müller|first2=Karl Otfried|author-link2=Karl Otfried Müller|chapter=Periplus Maris Exteri, Liber Prior, Prooemium| pages=516–517|editor1-last=Firmin Didot|editor1-first=Ambrosio|location=Paris|year=1855|publisher= editore Firmin Didot|display-authors=etal}} Greek text and Latin Translation thereof archived at the [[Internet Archive]].</ref>
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