berserk

English

Alternative forms

• beserk
• berzerk
• beresque (Australian, jocular)

Etymology

A borrowing from Old Norse berserkr (Icelandic berserkur, Swedish bärsärk), probably from Ber (“Nude”) + serkr (“coat”), equivalent to Nude/without +‎ sark (“shirt”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bə(ɹ)ˈzɜː(ɹ)k/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)k

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Noun

berserk (plural berserks)

1. (historical) A crazed Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy; a berserker.
   • 1912, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World‎^[1]:

     The Professor, with his face flushed, his nostrils dilated, and his beard bristling, was now in a proper Berserk mood.

Translations

a crazed Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 狂戰士／狂战士 (zh), 狂战士 (zh) (kuángzhànshì), 巴薩卡／巴萨卡, 巴萨卡 (bāsàkǎ)

• Czech: berserk (cs) m
• Danish: bersærk c
• Dutch: berserker m
• Faroese: berserkur m
• Finnish: berserkki
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Berserker (de) m
• Icelandic: berserkur (is) m
• Japanese: ベルセルク (ja) (beruseruku), バーザーカー (bāzākā)
• Norwegian: berserk (no)
• Polish: berserk (pl) m
• Russian: берсе́ркер (ru) m (bersérker), берсе́рк (ru) m (bersérk), береза́рк m (berezárk)
• Swedish: bärsärk (sv) c

Adjective

berserk (comparative more berserk, superlative most berserk)

1. Injuriously, maniacally, or furiously violent or out of control.

   After seeing his sister stabbed to death, he went berserk and attacked the killer like a wild animal.

2. Weird; bizarre.
   • 2017 June 26, Alexis Petridis, “Glastonbury 2017 verdict: Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Lorde, Stormzy and more”, in the Guardian‎^[2]:

     ...the writer conjured up a dystopian fantasy more berserk than anything you might find yourself listening to in the small hours at the Stone Circle.

Derived terms

• berserkly

Translations

injuriously, maniacally, or furiously violent or out of control

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 狂暴 (zh) (kuángbào)

• Dutch: doorgedraaid (nl), (slang) geflipt
• Finnish: raivopäinen
• French: fou furieux (fr) m
• German: durchgedreht (de), ausgeflippt (de), wütend (de), rasend (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: furioso (it), folle (it) m, frenetico (it) m
• Japanese: 凶暴な (きょうぼうな, kyōbō na)
• Portuguese: fora de controle
• Russian: неи́стовый (ru) (neístovyj), исступлённый (ru) (isstupljónnyj), я́ростный (ru) (járostnyj), бе́шеный (ru) (béšenyj)
• Spanish: fuera de control

See also

• Úlfhéðinn

Further reading

• “berserk”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• berserk, berserker, beserk at Google Ngram Viewer

Anagrams

• Kerbers

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Czech

Alternative forms

• berserkr

Noun

1. berserk

Further reading

• Template:R:PSJC
• Template:R:SSJC

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French

Etymology

From Old Norse berserkr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɛʁ.zɛʁk/

Noun

berserk m (plural berserks)

1. (historical) berserk, berserker (frenzied Norse warrior)

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Polish

Etymology

From Old Norse berserkr (Icelandic berserkur, Swedish bärsärk), probably from bjǫrn (“bear”) + serkr (“coat”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛr.sɛrk/

Noun

1. (mythology) berserk

Declension

Declension of berserk

	singular	plural
nominative	berserk	bersercy/berserki (deprecative)
genitive	berserka	berserków
dative	berserkowi	berserkom
accusative	berserka	berserków
instrumental	berserkiem	berserkami
locative	berserku	berserkach
vocative	berserku	bersercy

Further reading

• Template:R:PWN