Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

british isles

/ˌbɹɪ.tɪʃ ˈaɪlz/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.57 in modern English

Syllables
british isles
IPA
/ˌbɹɪ.tɪʃ ˈaɪlz/
17
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
1
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

name

An archipelago of Northern Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, Anglesey, the Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight, the Hebrides, the Shetland Islands, the Orkney Islands, the Isles of Scilly, the Channel Islands and many smaller islands.

Etymology

From British (“relating to Britons, Britain, or the Britains”) + isles (“islands”). Compare Ancient Greek Βρεττανίδες νῆσοι (Brettanídes nêsoi) and Latin Britannicae insulae (“British islands”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: Βρεττανίδες νῆσοι, Britannicae insulae

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˌbɹɪ.tɪʃ ˈaɪlz/
  • British English: /ˌbɹɪ.tɪʃ ˈaɪlz/

Inflected Forms

the British Isles (canonical, plural)

Phrases

British Islands

Frequently Paired Words

British Islands

Synonyms

Anglo-Celtic Isles Britains British and Irish Isles Islands of the North Atlantic these islands Cassiterides

Questions

How do you pronounce british isles?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˌbɹɪ.tɪʃ ˈaɪlz/.
What does british isles mean?
An archipelago of Northern Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, Anglesey, the Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight, the Hebrides, the Shetland Islands, the Orkney Islands, the Isles of Scilly, the Channel Islands and many smaller islands.
Where does british isles come from?
It is traced to Ancient Greek.

How to pronounce british isles

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