Islands of the North Atlantic
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see islands, North AtlanticUsed other than figuratively or idiomatically: see islands, North Atlantic.
Meaning
2 senses(plural)Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see islands, North Atlantic.
(plural, rare)Great Britain, Ireland and surrounding smaller islands; the British and Irish Isles.
Origin
Suggested in 1980 by MP John Biggs-Davison as the name for what ultimately became the BritSuggested in 1980 by MP John Biggs-Davison as the name for what ultimately became the British-Irish Council, subsequently adopted as a replacement for the contested term British Isles. A contrived acronym suggesting Iona, an island with cultural ties to both Britain and Ireland.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Synonyms
4 synonymsSee also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.