Brit Definition

brĭt

noun

Britisher.

Webster's New World

The young of the herring and some other fishes.

Webster's New World

The young of herring and similar fish.

American Heritage

Small sea animals, esp. certain crustaceans, as copepods, eaten by the baleen whales and many fishes.

Webster's New World

Minute marine organisms, such as crustaceans of the genus Calanus, that are a major source of food for right whales.

American Heritage

Synonyms:

abbreviation

Britain.

American Heritage

British.

Webster's New World

Britain.

Wiktionary

British.

Wiktionary

(lexicography) British English.

Wiktionary

adjective

British.

Webster's New World

verb

To break in pieces; divide.

Wiktionary

To bruise; indent.

Wiktionary

(intransitive) To fall out or shatter (as overripe hops or grain).

Wiktionary

(intransitive, dialectal) To fade away; alter.

Wiktionary

prefix

British.

Britart.

Britpop.

Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Brit

Noun

Singular:

brit

Plural:

brits

Origin of Brit

From Middle English brytten, brutten, from Old English brittian, bryttian (“to divide, dispense, distribute, rule over, possess, enjoy the use of”), from Proto-Germanic *brutjaną (“to break, divide”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreud- (“to break”). Cognate with Icelandic brytja (“to chop up, break in pieces, slaughter”), Swedish bryta (“to break, fracture, cut off”), Danish bryde (“to break”) and Albanian brydh (“I make crumbly, friable, soft”). Related to Old English brytta (“dispenser, giver, author, governor, prince”), Old English brēotan (“to break in pieces, hew down, demolish, destroy, kill”).

From Wiktionary
Perhaps from Cornish brȳthel mackerel (from Old Cornish breithil) (from breith speckled) or from Welsh brithyll trout (from brith speckled)

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
1901, either a shortening of Britisher or Briton, or a back-formation from British.

From Wiktionary
Probably from Middle English bret or birt, applied to a different kind of fish. See bret.

From Wiktionary
Shortened from British.

From Wiktionary
Short for brit milah.

From Wiktionary