tip of the iceberg

English

A photomontage of what a whole iceberg might look like

Etymology

tip + iceberg. Floating icebergs have a significant proportion of their mass below the surface of the water.

Noun

the tip of the iceberg

1. (idiomatic) Only the beginning; just a small indication of a larger possibility; a problem is much bigger than it seems

   This is only the tip of the iceberg. Our problems can become much worse.

Translations

only the beginning

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 冰山一角 (cmn) (bīngshān yījiǎo)

• Czech: špička ledovce (cs) f
• Dutch: topje van de ijsberg (nl)
• Finnish: jäävuoren huippu (fi)
• French: , partie émergée de l'iceberg (fr) f, pointe de l'iceberg (fr) f, sommet de l'iceberg (fr) m
• German: Spitze des Eisbergs (de) f
• Italian: punta dell'iceberg (it) f
• Japanese: 氷山の一角 (ja) (ひょうざんのいっかく, hyōzan-no ikkaku)
• Polish: wierzchołek góry lodowej (pl) m

• Portuguese: ponta do icebergue (pt) f
• Russian: верхушка айсберга (ru) (verxúška ájsberga) f
• Scottish Gaelic: cìrean na tuile (gd) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: вр̏х ле̏дено̄г брије̑га (sh) m / вр̏х ле̏дено̄г бре̑га (sh) m

  Roman: vȑh lȅdenōg brijȇga (sh) m / vȑh lȅdenōg brȇga (sh) m

• Spanish: punta del iceberg (es) f
• Swedish: toppen av ett isberg (sv)

See also

• scratch the surface