United Kingdom
/juːˌnaɪ.tɪd ˈkɪŋ.dəm/ proper noun
Forms the United Kingdom UK U.K.
- proper noun A kingdom and country in Northern Europe, comprising the four countries of England, Scotland and Wales on the island of Great Britain, and Northern Ireland on the northeastern portion of the island of Ireland since 1922.
- proper noun (historical) The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922).
- proper noun (historical, informal, nonstandard) The Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1801).
- proper noun (nation's name) A kingdom consisting of several constituencies, either actual, historical, or hypothetical. “the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves”
Synonyms
Blighty Old Blighty Old Dart UK United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Great Britain Britain England Kingdom of Great Britain U.K.
Etymology
From united + kingdom, first attested from 1706.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “United Kingdom”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details