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albion

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Al⋅bi⋅on

  [al-bee-uhn]
Use albion in a Sentence
–noun
1. Alebion.
2. a city in S Michigan. 11,059.
3. Literary. Britain.
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A⋅le⋅bi⋅on

  [uh-lee-bee-on]
–noun Classical Mythology.
a son of Poseidon who, with his brother Dercynus, was killed by Hercules while attempting to steal the cattle that Hercules had taken from Geryon.
Also, Albion.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Al·bi·on   (āl'bē-ən)   
England or Great Britain. Often used poetically.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

Albion 
ancient name of England, O.E., from L., sometimes said to be from the non-I.E. base *alb "mountain," which may have produced L. Alpes "Alps" and Alba, an Ir. name for "Scotland." But more likely from L. albus "white" (see alb), which would be an apt description of the chalk cliffs of the island's southern coast.
"Breoton is garsecges ealond, ðæt wæs iu geara Albion haten." [translation of Bede's "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum," c.900 C.E.]
Perfidious Albion translates Fr. rhetorical phrase la perfide Albion, said to have been in use since 16c., but popularized by Napoleon I in the recruiting drive of 1813, a ref. to the treacherous policies of Britain in dealing with foreign powers.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

Albion

the earliest-known name for the island of Britain. It was used by ancient Greek geographers from the 4th century BC and even earlier, who distinguished "Albion" from Ierne (Ireland) and from smaller members of the British Isles. The Greeks and Romans probably received the name from the Gauls or the Celts. The name Albion has been translated as "white land"; and the Romans explained it as referring to the chalk cliffs at Dover (Latin albus, "white").

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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