berk

See also: Berk and bərk

English

Etymology

Cockney rhyming slang, an ellipsis and clipping of Berkeley Hunt, a prominent hunt at Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, to mean cunt, q.v.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /bɝk/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /bɜː(ɹ)k/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)k
• Homophone: birk

Noun

berk (plural berks)

1. (UK, slang, derogatory, possibly vulgar) Synonym of cunt in its various senses, (now especially somewhat endearing) a fool, a prat, a twit, etc. [1930]
   • 2006 Feb. 3, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 1, Episode 2:

     I don't know why they couldn't just keep it as it was! How hard is it to remember 911?
     You mean 999...
     I mean 999!
     That's the American one!
     Yeah!
     You berk.

Synonyms

• See cunt and Thesaurus:fool and idiot

Usage notes

Although the term remains in fairly wide use, its specific origin and meaning in rhyming slang is less well known, lessening its vulgarity. In particular, berk is almost never parsed as gendered in the way cunt often is.

See also

• Belvoir (pronounced Beaver)

References

• "berk" in Chambers Dictionary
• "berk" in Jonathon Green's Cassell's Dictionary of Slang →ISBN

Anagrams

• brek, kerb

---

Albanian

Etymology 1

From berr (cf. derk from derr).

Noun

berk m (indefinite plural berqe, definite singular berku, definite plural berqet)

1. goat

Declension

declension of berk

	indefinite forms (trajta të pashquara)			definite forms (trajta të shquara)
	singular (numri njëjës)	plural (numri shumës)		singular (numri njëjës)	plural (numri shumës)
nominative (emërore)	berk	berqe		berku	berqet
accusative (kallëzore)	berk	berqe		berkun	berqet
genitive (gjinore) (i/e/të/së)	berku	berqeve		berkut	berqevet
dative (dhanore)	berku	berqeve		berkut	berqevet
ablative (rrjedhore)	berku	berqesh		berkut	berqevet

Related terms

• berr

Etymology 2

From Proto-Albanian *bardz(i)ka, from *bardza > bardhë (“white”). Similar sense development as in barmë.

Noun

berk m (indefinite plural berqe, definite singular berku, definite plural berqet)

1. (botany) sapwood, alburnum
2. (dialectal) bark

Declension

declension of berk

	indefinite forms (trajta të pashquara)			definite forms (trajta të shquara)
	singular (numri njëjës)	plural (numri shumës)		singular (numri njëjës)	plural (numri shumës)
nominative (emërore)	berk	berqe		berku	berqet
accusative (kallëzore)	berk	berqe		berkun	berqet
genitive (gjinore) (i/e/të/së)	berku	berqeve		berkut	berqevet
dative (dhanore)	berku	berqeve		berkut	berqevet
ablative (rrjedhore)	berku	berqesh		berkut	berqevet

Related terms

• barmë

---

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch berke, from Old Dutch *berka, from Proto-West Germanic *berku, from Proto-Germanic *berkō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerHǵós.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɛrk/

• audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: berk
• Rhymes: -ɛrk

Noun

berk m (plural berken, diminutive berkje n)

1. birch, tree of the genus Betula

   Synonym: berkenboom

Derived terms

• berkenboom
• berkenroede
• berkhaan
• berkhoen

Descendants

• Afrikaans: berk

---

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɛʁk/

• Audio

  (file)

Interjection

berk

1. Alternative form of beurk: yuck!

---

Turkish

Etymology 1

From Ottoman Turkish برك‎ (berk), from Proto-Turkic *berk (“mighty”). Related to pek.

Adjective

berk

1. strong, hard, robust, violent

   Synonyms: sert, katı

2. heroic
3. firm, solid

   Synonym: sağlam

References

• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “berk1”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Redhouse, James W. (1890), “برك”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon, Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 356
• Starostin, Sergei; Dybo, Anna; Mudrak, Oleg (2003) Etymological dictionary of the Altaic languages (Handbuch der Orientalistik; VIII.8), Leiden, New York, Köln: E.J. Brill: “*parki”

Etymology 2

From Ottoman Turkish برق‎ (berk), from Arabic بَرْق‎ (barq).

Noun

berk (definite accusative berki, plural berkler) (archaic)

1. lightning

References

• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “berk2”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• The Redhouse Dictionary Turkish/Ottoman English, 21st edition, 2013, →ISBN