Briticism

[ brit-uh-siz-uhm ]

noun

1. a word, idiom, or phrase characteristic of or restricted to British English, especially as compared with American English, as lift compared with elevator or in hospital with in the hospital.

Briticism

/ ˈbrɪtɪˌsɪzəm /

noun

1. a custom, linguistic usage, or other feature peculiar to Britain or its people

Word History and Origins

Origin of Briticism¹

1865–70, Americanism; British + -ism, with -ic for -ish on the model of Gallicism, etc.

Example Sentences

Except she says “telly” instead of “TV,” which I think is one of her most adorable Briticisms.

From Literature

She says this as a matter of consensus, though to gaze at Wright, looking glam in borrowed clothes from Zero + Maria Cornejo, is to consider the observation — to borrow a Briticism — rubbish.

From Washington Post

Deborah Smith’s translation, originally for publication in England, sports a few occasionally jarring Briticisms.

From Washington Post

He must free his vocabulary from clumsy localisms, whether these be Americanisms or Briticisms.

From Project Gutenberg

I wondered what Phidias would have said to the "cuttings," and whether the Miss Binghams imagined it a Briticism.

From Project Gutenberg