English · Idiom Historical

British Isles

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

The English Channel, the North Sea, and the seas between Australasia and the United Kingdom are also so called.

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “British Isles” mean?

The English Channel, the North Sea, and the seas between Australasia and the United Kingdom are also so called.

Is “British Isles” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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