Brittanyn.

Etymology: < Brittany (also Britanny, Britany), the name of a region (formerly also a kingdom and a duchy) in north-western France, formerly also a name of Great Britain < classical Latin Brittannia , Britannia (see Britain n.²); compare -y suffix³. Compare French Bretagne (see below). With use in plural (compare sense 1) compare classical Latin Britanniae (plural) the Roman province of Britain, the British Isles (see Britannia n.).Brittany occurs as a place name in English contexts from the 15th cent. onwards (in Middle English as e.g. Bretany , Brytany , Brytanye ; in early modern English as e.g. Britainny , Britanie , Britanny , Britany , Britanye , Brittany ; in Older Scots also (with metathesis; compare note at Britain n.²) as Bartanye , Bertanye , Bartenyie ). Some of these forms (e.g. Britainny , Bartenyie ) show influence from Middle French, French Bretagne (see Britain n.², and compare β. forms in etymology at that entry). It is also sometimes difficult to distinguish medieval and early modern forms of this name from those of the name Britain (Britain n.²), e.g. in the Scots forms Bartanye , Bertanye , where the y could be interpreted either as a syllabic vowel or as an alternative spelling for ȝ (compare e.g. the form Bartanȝe at Britain n.²). The variation between medial -t- and -tt- in the historical forms reflects variation in the Latin etymon of the place name: see discussion at Britain n.² The name is attested earliest denoting an area in north-western France, adjoining Normandy; this area was also called Little Brittany (compare Little Britain : see discussion at Britain n.²). For illustration of the historical development compare:c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 254 Saynt German..made þis nowterd & his wife to com aforn hym..evur sethen, þe kynges þat come of þe nowtherd kynred hase reingned vppon þe pepull & þe land of Brytany.a1500 (a1451) in Ld. Clermont Wks. J. Fortescue (1869) I. 551 The coost of France is no longer by the narow see coost than from Calyce in Pycardy unto Seynt Malous in Bretany.1531 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Hist. & Chron. Scotl. (1941) I. 120 Swetonius..arrivit in Bartanye.1574 T. Tymme tr. J. de Serres Three Partes Comm. Ciuill Warres Fraunce vii. 8 (note) The churches of Brittanny and Normandy.1670 S. Wilson Lassels's Voy. Italy (new ed.) Pref. sig. ī.iv Let a man..quarter his coat of Armes with the three Lyons of England, and the three Flower de-lys of France, as I know a gentleman of little Britany doth.1795 W. Nicholson Dict. Chem. II. 801 Saturnite. By this name Kirwan distinguishes a substance said by Monnet to be found in the lead mines of Poullaouwen in Brittany.1891 C. A. Ward Oracles Nostradamus 245 Garencières leaves the two words vaultorte Herne as in the original French, and does not attempt the translation. He also mistakes Reines for Rennes, the chief town in Little Brittany. The name was also used to denote Great Britain (also as Great Brittany , compare e.g. quots. 1555 and 1725, formed similarly to Great Britain : see Britain n.²); in later use chiefly poetic or occasionally historical (e.g. in quot. 1879, where it denotes the areas outside Anglo-Saxon England). For illustration of the name in this use compare:a1500 (c1410) Dives & Pauper (Hunterian) (1976) i. 144 Þe west see þat goȝt abouten Brytanye and Irlonde and be othere nyghy londys.1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. ix. f. 138 It is eaten and indented with two goulfes (as wee reade of great Britanye nowe cauled Englande, and Calidonia nowe cauled Scotlande) beinge in maner two Ilandes.1591 H. Savile tr. Tacitus Ende of Nero: Fower Bks. Hist. i. 2 Brittany al conquered, not al retained.1610 J. Guillim Display of Heraldrie iii. xvii. 162 By whose glorious issue, Great Britanny now enioieth the height of Glorie and Happinesse.1662 P. Gunning Paschal or Lent-Fast 35 Lucius, first Christian King of Britanny.1725 R. Wolcott Poet. Medit. 19 The Night is Past, & Civil Wars o're-blown, And the right Heir advanced to the Throne, A general Joy runs thro' Great-Britanny, At the appearance of His Majesty.1756 F. Warner Eccl. Hist. Eng. I. iii. 114 In the synodical epistle of Theodore, there is no mention made of any other than the bishops of the isle of Britany.1879 A. T. de Vere Legends Saxon Saints Pref. p. xi The Saxon kings made amends for the wrongs inflicted by their ancestors upon the British Celts, endowing with English lands the churches and convents founded by them in Brittany.