the archipelago has been referred to by a single name for over 2000 years: the term 'british isles' derives from terms used by classical geographers to describe this island group. by 50 bc greek geographers were using equivalents of "prettanikē" as a collective name for the british isles. however, with the roman conquest of britain the latin term "britannia" was used for the island of great britain, and later roman-occupied britain south of caledonia.