BRITISH EMPIRE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does British Empire mean? 

• BRITISH EMPIRE (noun)
  The noun BRITISH EMPIRE has 1 sense:

1. a former empire consisting of Great Britain and all the territories under its control; reached its greatest extent at the end of World War I; it included the British Isles, British West Indies, Canada, British Guiana; British West Africa, British East Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand

  Familiarity information: BRITISH EMPIRE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BRITISH EMPIRE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A former empire consisting of Great Britain and all the territories under its control; reached its greatest extent at the end of World War I; it included the British Isles, British West Indies, Canada, British Guiana; British West Africa, British East Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Context example:

the sun never sets on the British Empire

Instance hypernyms:

geographic area; geographic region; geographical area; geographical region (a demarcated area of the Earth)

Meronyms (members of "British Empire"):

British West Indies (the islands in the West Indies that were formerly under British control, including the Bahamas, Saint Lucia, Antigua, Grenada, Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad)

Canada (a nation in northern North America; the French were the first Europeans to settle in mainland Canada)

Australia; Commonwealth of Australia (a nation occupying the whole of the Australian continent; Aboriginal tribes are thought to have migrated from southeastern Asia 20,000 years ago; first Europeans were British convicts sent there as a penal colony)

British Isles (Great Britain and Ireland and adjacent islands in the north Atlantic)

British East Africa (the former British territories of eastern Africa, including Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda, and Zanzibar)

British West Africa (the former British territories of western Africa, including Nigeria, Cameroon, Gambia, Togo, Sierra Leone, and the Gold Coast)

Bharat; India; Republic of India (a republic in the Asian subcontinent in southern Asia; second most populous country in the world; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1947)

British Guiana; Co-operative Republic of Guyana; Guyana (a republic in northeastern South America; formerly part of the British Empire, but it achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1966)

New Zealand (an independent country within the British Commonwealth; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1907; known for sheep and spectacular scenery)