berserk
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
A borrowing from Old Norse berserkr (Icelandic berserkur, Swedish bärsärk), probably from bjǫrn (“bear”) + serkr (“coat”), equivalent to bear + sark (“shirt”).
Pronunciation
Noun
berserk (plural berserks)
- (historical) A crazed Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy; a berserker.
Translations
a crazed Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy
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Adjective
berserk (comparative more berserk, superlative most berserk)
- 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.
- Weird; bizarre.
- 2017 June 26, Alexis Petridis, “Glastonbury 2017 verdict: Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Lorde, Stormzy and more”, in the Guardian[1]:
- ...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
Translations
injuriously, maniacally, or furiously violent or out of control
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See also
Further reading
- “berserk”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- berserk, berserker, beserk at the Google Books Ngram Viewer.
Anagrams
Czech
Alternative forms
Noun
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Further reading
Polish
Etymology
From Old Norse berserkr (Icelandic berserkur, Swedish bärsärk), probably from bjǫrn (“bear”) + serkr (“coat”).
Pronunciation
Noun
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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
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Old Norse
- English terms derived from Old Norse
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)k
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with historical senses
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- Polish terms borrowed from Old Norse
- Polish terms derived from Old Norse
- Polish 2-syllable words
- Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- pl:Mythology