British people
The use of Britons to mean all the people of Britain was not common in the English language before the early 18th century. It became more usual after the Acts of Union 1707 joined together the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain. The word Briton was frequently used in the 18th and 19th centuries with the suggestion of "qualities of bravery and fortitude". The rare word "Britoness" was sometimes used in the past for women from Britain. Writers like Edmund Spenser, Thomas Babington Macaulay, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson used it for strong women like the ancient British queen Boudica (who fought the Romans) and the English queen, Elizabeth I (whose Royal Navy defeated the Spanish Armada).