British and Irish Political Geography

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Britain

A Dictionary of Buddhism | 2004 | | Copyright

Britain. British interest in Buddhism developed during the colonial period when a stream of officials and administrators were posted to different parts of the British Empire in Asia, and particularly to India and Sri Lanka. Sir William Jones (1746–94) founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal (subsequently the Royal Asiatic Society) in 1784, and the Society began to collect and study oriental manuscripts. The earliest Buddhist texts to be studied were Mahāyāna Sanskrit manuscripts collected in Nepal by the British Resident, B. H. Hodgson. Another British civil servant who made an outstanding contribution to the study of Theravāda Buddhism was T. W. Rhys Davids (1843–1922). Rhys Davids became interested in Buddhism during his residence in Sri Lanka and went on to found the Pāli Text Society in 1881. The Society remains to this day the most important outlet for the publication of texts and translations of Pāli Buddhist literature. Interest in Buddhism was heightened by Sir Edwin Arnold's famous poem The Light of Asia, which inspired Westerners to seek ordination. Among them was C. A. B. McGregor (1872–1923) who was ordained in 1901 as Ananda Metteya and who inspired the foundation of the Buddhist Society of Great Britain and Ireland in 1907 with his mission to England in 1908. The Theravāda form of Buddhism was predominant in Britain until the middle of the 20th century when other groups, notably zen and Tibetan (see Tibet), began to arrive.

Britain has not been affected by mass Buddhist immigration since most of the Asian immigrants to the United Kingdom have been Hindus and Muslims. In contrast to the USA (see America), there are only around 50,000 refugees from Indo-China in Britain. The majority of British Buddhists are therefore Caucasians who have converted to Buddhism, and most are middle-class. There are something of the order of 200,000 Buddhists in Britain belonging to some 100 Tibetan centres, 90 Theravāda centres, and around 100 or so other groups, including the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order.

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DAMIEN KEOWN. "Britain." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Britain

Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names | 2005 | | Copyright

Britain Albion, Britannia Albion (in Latin, Albionum) was the first known name for Britain, possibly taken from the Latin albus ‘white’, a reference to the white cliffs that sailors saw as they approached Dover, the shortest route across the English Channel from the continent; or, less likely, it may be taken from the Indo‐European root word alb ‘mountain’. Britannia ‘Land of the Britons’ was the Roman name for modern England, Scotland and Wales. The Greeks recorded the name as Pretaniké and referred to the inhabitants of the island as Prittanoi ‘The Tattooed People’, that is, those who customarily decorated their bodies with woad, from a word of Celtic origin meaning ‘to cut’ or ‘to carve’. In time this became ‘Britons’, after the Roman name Brittani, and they gave their name to the country. A Roman province between 43 and c.410, Britannia was divided into two provinces in c.200 and four about 100 years later as Roman control was extended northwards and westwards. Old English names included Breoton, Breten, and Bryten. The epithet ‘Perfidious Albion’ was first used by Augustin, Marquis de Ximénèz (1726–1817), in his poem L'Ère des Français. It only became popular during the Napoleonic Wars, being used by Napoleon^† to describe Britain's self‐centred determination to maintain the balance of power in Europe and, in his view, its unscrupulous behaviour towards foreigners. Albion features in the name of some English football teams, notably West Bromwich Albion. See Great Britain.

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JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Britain." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Britain." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Britain.html

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Britain

Allusions--Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary | 1986 | Copyright

86. Britain

Albion poetic name for England. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 19]
beefeater yeoman of the English royal guard, esp. at the Tower of London; slang for Englishman. [Br. Culture: Misc.]
Bull, John personification of Britain. [Br. Folklore: Benét, 45]
Court of St . James’s British royal court. [Br. Hist.: Misc.]
George, St. patron saint of Britain. [Br. Hist.: Golden Legend ]
God Save the Queen British national anthem. [Br. Culture: Scholes, 408]
Nation of Shopkeepers name disdainfully given to Britain by Napoleon Bonaparte. [Fr. Hist.: Wheeler, 256]
Rule Britannia! patriotic song of Britain. [Br. Culture: Scholes, 897–898]
10 Downing Street the British government; refers to location of Prime Minister’s residence [Br. Culture: Benét, 286]
Union Jack British national flag. [Br. Culture: Misc.]
Whitehall many government offices on this street; synonymous with government. [Br. Hist.: NCE, 2970]

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Britain

A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology | 2004 | | Copyright

Britain, Great Britain. The largest of the British Isles, including what is now called England, Wales, and Scotland. Until Roman times the island's inhabitants were dominantly Brythonic Celts, ancestors of the modern Welsh and Cornish. For that reason the word Prydain [W, Britain] in early Welsh narrative usually denotes all of Britain, not just the Welsh-speaking areas. The concept of Wales [W Cymru] as a nation distinct from Britain came later. The OIr. Bretain, ModIr. Breatain, ScG Breatunn, and Corn. Breten may mean all of Britain or Britain exclusive of Scotland. In Breton, the isle of Britain is Breizh-Veur or Enez-Vreizh. According to the Irish pseudo-history Lebor Gabála [Book of Invasions], Britain was named for the Nemedian hero Britán Máel. In many Welsh narratives Britain is known as the Island of the Mighty. See also ENGLAND.

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JAMES MacKILLOP. "Britain." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Britain

A Dictionary of World History | 2000 | Copyright

Britain (in full Great Britain). The island containing England, Wales, and Scotland, and including the small adjacent islands. After the Old English period ‘Britain’ was used only as an historical term until about the time of Henry VIII and Edward VI, when it came into practical politics in connection with the efforts made to unite England and Scotland. In 1604 James I was proclaimed ‘King of Great Britain’, and this name was adopted for the United Kingdom at the Union of 1707, after which ‘South Britain’ and ‘North Britain’ were frequent in Acts of Parliament for England and Scotland respectively. See also UNITED KINGDOM.

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Britain

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2008 | Copyright

Britain , alternate term for Great Britain, comprised of England, Scotland, and Wales. Often used synonymously with the United Kingdom, the name Britain is derived from Britannia, given by the Romans to the portion of the island of Great Britain that they occupied. It has sometimes been used to refer to Great Britain in the period before the Germanic invasions of the 5th cent. AD After the union (1707) of England and Scotland, parliamentary legislation for a time used "South Britain" and "North Britain" to refer to the two parts. For a more complete history, see Great Britain .

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Britain

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

Britain XIII. ME. Bretayne — OF. Bretaigne (mod. -agne) :- L. Brittania, -annia, f. Brit(t)annī Britons = Gr. Bret(t)anoí, Pret(t)anoí. (OE. Breoten, Breten, Bryten — L. Brittones; cf. BRITISH.)

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T. F. HOAD. "Britain." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Britain

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright

Britain (Great Britain) Kingdom in nw Europe, officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man.

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Britain

The Oxford Companion to World War II | 2001 | | Copyright

Britain, see UK.

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Britain

Britain •baton, batten, fatten, flatten, harmattan, Manhattan, Mountbatten, paten, patten, pattern, platen, Saturn, slattern •Shackleton • Appleton •Hampton, Northampton, Rockhampton, Southampton, Wolverhampton •Canton, lantern, Scranton •Langton, plankton •Clapton •Aston, pastern •Gladstone •Caxton, Paxton •capstan • Ashton • phytoplankton •Akhenaten, Akhetaten, Aten, Barton, carton, Dumbarton, hearten, Parton, smarten, spartan, tartan •Grafton •Carlton, Charlton •Charleston • kindergarten •Aldermaston •Breton, jetton, Sowetan, threaten, Tibetan •lectern •Elton, melton, Skelton •Denton, Fenton, Kenton, Lenten, Trenton •Repton •Avestan, Midwestern, northwestern, Preston, southwestern, western •sexton •Clayton, Deighton, Leighton, Paton, phaeton, Satan, straighten, straiten •Paignton • Maidstone •beaten, Beaton, Beeton, Cretan, Keaton, neaten, Nuneaton, overeaten, sweeten, uneaten, wheaten •chieftain •eastern, northeastern, southeastern •browbeaten • weatherbeaten •bitten, bittern, Britain, Briton, Britten, handwritten, hardbitten, kitten, Lytton, mitten, smitten, underwritten, witan, written •Clifton •Milton, Shilton, Stilton, Wilton •Middleton • singleton • simpleton •Clinton, Linton, Minton, Quinton, Winton •cistern, Liston, piston, Wystan •brimstone • Winston • Kingston •Addington • Eddington •Workington •Arlington, Darlington •skeleton •Ellington, wellington •exoskeleton •cosmopolitan, megalopolitan, metropolitan, Neapolitan •Burlington • Hamilton • badminton •lamington • Germiston • Penistone •Bonington • Orpington • Samaritan •Carrington, Harrington •sacristan • Festschriften •Sherrington • typewritten •Warrington • puritan • Fredericton •Lexington • Occitan • Washington •Whittington • Huntington •Galveston • Livingstone •Kensington •Blyton, brighten, Brighton, Crichton, enlighten, frighten, heighten, lighten, righten, tighten, titan, triton, whiten •begotten, cotton, forgotten, ill-gotten, misbegotten, rotten •Compton, Crompton •wanton • Longton •Boston, postern •boughten, chorten, foreshorten, Laughton, Morton, Naughton, Orton, quartan, quartern, shorten, tauten, torten, Wharton •Alton, Dalton, Galton, saltern, Walton •Taunton • Allston • Launceston •croton, Dakotan, Minnesotan, oaten, verboten •Bolton, Doulton, molten •Folkestone • Royston •Luton, newton, rambutan, Teuton •Houston • Fulton •button, glutton, Hutton, mutton •sultan •doubleton, subaltern •fronton • Augustan • Dunstan •tungsten • quieten • Pinkerton •charlatan • Wollaston • Palmerston •Edmonton • automaton • Sheraton •Geraldton • Chatterton • Betterton •Chesterton • Athelstan •burton, curtain, uncertain •Hurston

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