"berserker" meaning in All languages combined

See berserker on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

IPA: /ˈbɜːsɜːkə/ [Received-Pronunciation], /bəˈzɜːkə/ [Received-Pronunciation], /bɜː-/ [Received-Pronunciation], /-ˈsɜːkə/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈbɚˌsɚkɚ/ [General-American], /bɚˈzɚkɚ/ [General-American] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-berserker.wav [Southern-England] Forms: berserkers [plural]
Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)kə(ɹ) Etymology: Borrowed from Old Norse berserkr (“Norse warrior who fights with frenzy”), probably from bjǫrn (“bear”) + serkr (“coat; shirt”), referring to the bearskins worn by the warriors. Bjǫrn is possibly ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“brown”); and serkr from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to bind, tie together; thread”). Alternatively, it has been suggested that the first element of the word is from berr (“bare, naked”), suggesting warriors who went into battle without armour, but this is now thought unlikely. Doublet of berserk. The word was introduced in English by the Scottish author and historian Walter Scott (1771–1832) in Illustrations of Northern Antiquities (1814) (spelled berserkir), and in his novel The Pirate (1822) (spelled berserkar). Sense 3 (“type of von Neumann probe whose mission is to exterminate alien lifeforms”) was coined by the American author Fred Saberhagen (1930–2007) in 1963 in his Berserker series of novels and short stories. cognates * Icelandic berserkur * Swedish bärsärk Etymology templates: {{circa2|6th or 7th century|short=1}} c. 6th or 7th century, {{C.E.}} C.E., {{ref|From the collection of the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm, Sweden.|group=n|name=n1}}, {{root|en|ine-pro|*bʰerH-|*ser-|id=brown}}, {{bor|en|non|berserkr|t=Norse warrior who fights with frenzy}} Old Norse berserkr (“Norse warrior who fights with frenzy”), {{m|non|bjǫrn|t=bear}} bjǫrn (“bear”), {{m|non|serkr|t=coat; shirt}} serkr (“coat; shirt”), {{!}} |, {{m|non||Bjǫrn}} Bjǫrn, {{der|en|ine-pro|*bʰerH-|t=brown}} Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“brown”), {{m|non||serkr}} serkr, {{der|en|ine-pro|*ser-|t=to bind, tie together; thread}} Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to bind, tie together; thread”), {{m|non|berr|t=bare, naked}} berr (“bare, naked”), {{doublet|en|berserk}} Doublet of berserk, {{nb...|London}} […], {{m|en|berserkir}} berserkir, {{m|en|berserkar}} berserkar, {{coinage|en|Fred Saberhagen|nat=the American|nobycat=1|nocap=1|occ=author}} coined by the American author Fred Saberhagen, {{cog|is|berserkur}} Icelandic berserkur, {{cog|sv|bärsärk}} Swedish bärsärk Head templates: {{en-noun}} berserker (plural berserkers)
  1. (historical) A Norse warrior who purportedly fought in a trance-like frenzy; a berserk. Tags: historical Categories (topical): People Translations (Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy): 巴薩卡 (Chinese Mandarin), 巴萨卡 (bāsàkǎ) (Chinese Mandarin), 狂戰士 (Chinese Mandarin), 狂战士 (kuángzhànshì) (Chinese Mandarin), berserk [masculine] (Czech), bersærk [common-gender] (Danish), berserker [masculine] (Dutch), berserkur [masculine] (Faroese), berserkki (Finnish), Berserker [masculine] (German), Berserk [masculine] (German), berserkur [masculine] (Icelandic), ベルセルク (beruseruku) (Japanese), バーザーカー (bāzākā) (Japanese), berserk (Norwegian), berserk [masculine] (Polish), берсе́ркер (bersérker) [masculine] (Russian), берсе́рк (bersérk) [masculine] (Russian), береза́рк (berezárk) [masculine] (Russian), bärsärk [common-gender] (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-berserker-en-noun-X2kGos69 Disambiguation of People: 44 18 39 Disambiguation of 'Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy': 71 15 14
  2. (by extension)
    One who fights as if frenzied, like a berserker.
    Tags: broadly Categories (topical): People
    Sense id: en-berserker-en-noun-tJ1Z4TjC Disambiguation of People: 44 18 39
  3. (by extension)
    (science fiction) A type of von Neumann probe whose mission is to exterminate alien lifeforms.
    Tags: broadly Categories (topical): Science fiction, Astronautics, People, Violence
    Sense id: en-berserker-en-noun-ECHmd7VK Disambiguation of Astronautics: 17 15 68 Disambiguation of People: 44 18 39 Disambiguation of Violence: 25 13 62 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Interstellar travel Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 16 17 67 Disambiguation of Interstellar travel: 4 2 94 Topics: literature, media, publishing, science-fiction
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: berserkar, berserkir, berzerker, beserker [common, misspelling]

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for berserker meaning in All languages combined (10.4kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "6th or 7th century",
        "short": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "c. 6th or 7th century",
      "name": "circa2"
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    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "C.E.",
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      "name": "ref"
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    {
      "args": {
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        "4": "*ser-",
        "id": "brown"
      },
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      "name": "root"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "non",
        "3": "berserkr",
        "t": "Norse warrior who fights with frenzy"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse berserkr (“Norse warrior who fights with frenzy”)",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "bjǫrn",
        "t": "bear"
      },
      "expansion": "bjǫrn (“bear”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "serkr",
        "t": "coat; shirt"
      },
      "expansion": "serkr (“coat; shirt”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "|",
      "name": "!"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "",
        "3": "Bjǫrn"
      },
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      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*bʰerH-",
        "t": "brown"
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      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“brown”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
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        "3": "serkr"
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      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "berr",
        "t": "bare, naked"
      },
      "expansion": "berr (“bare, naked”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "berserk"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of berserk",
      "name": "doublet"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "London"
      },
      "expansion": "[…]",
      "name": "nb..."
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "berserkir"
      },
      "expansion": "berserkir",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "berserkar"
      },
      "expansion": "berserkar",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Fred Saberhagen",
        "nat": "the American",
        "nobycat": "1",
        "nocap": "1",
        "occ": "author"
      },
      "expansion": "coined by the American author Fred Saberhagen",
      "name": "coinage"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "berserkur"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic berserkur",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "bärsärk"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish bärsärk",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from Old Norse berserkr (“Norse warrior who fights with frenzy”), probably from bjǫrn (“bear”) + serkr (“coat; shirt”), referring to the bearskins worn by the warriors. Bjǫrn is possibly ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“brown”); and serkr from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to bind, tie together; thread”). Alternatively, it has been suggested that the first element of the word is from berr (“bare, naked”), suggesting warriors who went into battle without armour, but this is now thought unlikely. Doublet of berserk.\nThe word was introduced in English by the Scottish author and historian Walter Scott (1771–1832) in Illustrations of Northern Antiquities (1814) (spelled berserkir), and in his novel The Pirate (1822) (spelled berserkar). Sense 3 (“type of von Neumann probe whose mission is to exterminate alien lifeforms”) was coined by the American author Fred Saberhagen (1930–2007) in 1963 in his Berserker series of novels and short stories.\ncognates\n* Icelandic berserkur\n* Swedish bärsärk",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "berserkers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
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  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "berserker (plural berserkers)",
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  "hyphenation": [
    "ber‧serk‧er"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "44 18 39",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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      "glosses": [
        "A Norse warrior who purportedly fought in a trance-like frenzy; a berserk."
      ],
      "id": "en-berserker-en-noun-X2kGos69",
      "links": [
        [
          "Norse",
          "Norse#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "warrior",
          "warrior"
        ],
        [
          "fought",
          "fight#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "frenzy",
          "frenzy#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "berserk",
          "berserk#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(historical) A Norse warrior who purportedly fought in a trance-like frenzy; a berserk."
      ],
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        "historical"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "71 15 14",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
          "word": "巴薩卡"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "71 15 14",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "bāsàkǎ",
          "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
          "word": "巴萨卡"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "71 15 14",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
          "word": "狂戰士"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "71 15 14",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "kuángzhànshì",
          "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
          "word": "狂战士"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "71 15 14",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "berserk"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "71 15 14",
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "bersærk"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "71 15 14",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "berserker"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "71 15 14",
          "code": "fo",
          "lang": "Faroese",
          "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "berserkur"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "71 15 14",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
          "word": "berserkki"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "71 15 14",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Berserker"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "71 15 14",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Berserk"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "71 15 14",
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "berserkur"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "71 15 14",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "beruseruku",
          "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
          "word": "ベルセルク"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "71 15 14",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "bāzākā",
          "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
          "word": "バーザーカー"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "71 15 14",
          "code": "no",
          "lang": "Norwegian",
          "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
          "word": "berserk"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "71 15 14",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "berserk"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "71 15 14",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "bersérker",
          "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "берсе́ркер"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "71 15 14",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "bersérk",
          "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "берсе́рк"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "71 15 14",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "berezárk",
          "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "береза́рк"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "71 15 14",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "bärsärk"
        }
      ]
    },
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          "_dis": "44 18 39",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "One who fights as if frenzied, like a berserker."
      ],
      "id": "en-berserker-en-noun-tJ1Z4TjC",
      "links": [
        [
          "fights",
          "fight#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "frenzied",
          "frenzied#Adjective"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension)",
        "One who fights as if frenzied, like a berserker."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Science fiction",
          "orig": "en:Science fiction",
          "parents": [
            "Fiction",
            "Speculative fiction",
            "Artistic works",
            "Genres",
            "Art",
            "Entertainment",
            "Culture",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "16 17 67",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "4 2 94",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Interstellar travel",
          "orig": "en:Interstellar travel",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 15 68",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Astronautics",
          "orig": "en:Astronautics",
          "parents": [
            "Applied sciences",
            "Space",
            "Sciences",
            "Nature",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
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          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "25 13 62",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Violence",
          "orig": "en:Violence",
          "parents": [
            "Human behaviour",
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A type of von Neumann probe whose mission is to exterminate alien lifeforms."
      ],
      "id": "en-berserker-en-noun-ECHmd7VK",
      "links": [
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          "science fiction",
          "science fiction"
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        [
          "type",
          "type#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "von Neumann probe",
          "von Neumann probe"
        ],
        [
          "mission",
          "mission#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "exterminate",
          "exterminate"
        ],
        [
          "alien",
          "alien#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "lifeform",
          "lifeform"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension)",
        "(science fiction) A type of von Neumann probe whose mission is to exterminate alien lifeforms."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "literature",
        "media",
        "publishing",
        "science-fiction"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbɜːsɜːkə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bəˈzɜːkə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bɜː-/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/-ˈsɜːkə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbɚˌsɚkɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bɚˈzɚkɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɜː(ɹ)kə(ɹ)"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-berserker.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/4d/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-berserker.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-berserker.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/4d/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-berserker.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-berserker.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "berserkar"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "berserkir"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "berzerker"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "tags": [
        "common",
        "misspelling"
      ],
      "word": "beserker"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Illustrations of Northern Antiquities",
    "Swedish History Museum",
    "Torslunda plates",
    "Walter Scott"
  ],
  "word": "berserker"
}
{
  "categories": [
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    "English countable nouns",
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    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms borrowed from Old Norse",
    "English terms derived from Old Norse",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰerH- (brown)",
    "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ser-",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)kə(ɹ)",
    "Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)kə(ɹ)/3 syllables",
    "en:Astronautics",
    "en:Interstellar travel",
    "en:People",
    "en:Violence"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
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      "args": {},
      "expansion": "C.E.",
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      "args": {
        "1": "From the collection of the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm, Sweden.",
        "group": "n",
        "name": "n1"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "ref"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*bʰerH-",
        "4": "*ser-",
        "id": "brown"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "root"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "non",
        "3": "berserkr",
        "t": "Norse warrior who fights with frenzy"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse berserkr (“Norse warrior who fights with frenzy”)",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "bjǫrn",
        "t": "bear"
      },
      "expansion": "bjǫrn (“bear”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "serkr",
        "t": "coat; shirt"
      },
      "expansion": "serkr (“coat; shirt”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "|",
      "name": "!"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "",
        "3": "Bjǫrn"
      },
      "expansion": "Bjǫrn",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*bʰerH-",
        "t": "brown"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“brown”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "",
        "3": "serkr"
      },
      "expansion": "serkr",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*ser-",
        "t": "to bind, tie together; thread"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to bind, tie together; thread”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "berr",
        "t": "bare, naked"
      },
      "expansion": "berr (“bare, naked”)",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "berserk"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of berserk",
      "name": "doublet"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "London"
      },
      "expansion": "[…]",
      "name": "nb..."
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "berserkir"
      },
      "expansion": "berserkir",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "berserkar"
      },
      "expansion": "berserkar",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Fred Saberhagen",
        "nat": "the American",
        "nobycat": "1",
        "nocap": "1",
        "occ": "author"
      },
      "expansion": "coined by the American author Fred Saberhagen",
      "name": "coinage"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "berserkur"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic berserkur",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "bärsärk"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish bärsärk",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from Old Norse berserkr (“Norse warrior who fights with frenzy”), probably from bjǫrn (“bear”) + serkr (“coat; shirt”), referring to the bearskins worn by the warriors. Bjǫrn is possibly ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“brown”); and serkr from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to bind, tie together; thread”). Alternatively, it has been suggested that the first element of the word is from berr (“bare, naked”), suggesting warriors who went into battle without armour, but this is now thought unlikely. Doublet of berserk.\nThe word was introduced in English by the Scottish author and historian Walter Scott (1771–1832) in Illustrations of Northern Antiquities (1814) (spelled berserkir), and in his novel The Pirate (1822) (spelled berserkar). Sense 3 (“type of von Neumann probe whose mission is to exterminate alien lifeforms”) was coined by the American author Fred Saberhagen (1930–2007) in 1963 in his Berserker series of novels and short stories.\ncognates\n* Icelandic berserkur\n* Swedish bärsärk",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "berserkers",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "berserker (plural berserkers)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "ber‧serk‧er"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with historical senses"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A Norse warrior who purportedly fought in a trance-like frenzy; a berserk."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Norse",
          "Norse#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "warrior",
          "warrior"
        ],
        [
          "fought",
          "fight#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "frenzy",
          "frenzy#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "berserk",
          "berserk#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(historical) A Norse warrior who purportedly fought in a trance-like frenzy; a berserk."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "One who fights as if frenzied, like a berserker."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "fights",
          "fight#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "frenzied",
          "frenzied#Adjective"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension)",
        "One who fights as if frenzied, like a berserker."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Science fiction"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A type of von Neumann probe whose mission is to exterminate alien lifeforms."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "science fiction",
          "science fiction"
        ],
        [
          "type",
          "type#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "von Neumann probe",
          "von Neumann probe"
        ],
        [
          "mission",
          "mission#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "exterminate",
          "exterminate"
        ],
        [
          "alien",
          "alien#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "lifeform",
          "lifeform"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension)",
        "(science fiction) A type of von Neumann probe whose mission is to exterminate alien lifeforms."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "literature",
        "media",
        "publishing",
        "science-fiction"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbɜːsɜːkə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bəˈzɜːkə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bɜː-/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/-ˈsɜːkə/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈbɚˌsɚkɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bɚˈzɚkɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɜː(ɹ)kə(ɹ)"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-berserker.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/4d/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-berserker.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-berserker.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/4d/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-berserker.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-berserker.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "berserkar"
    },
    {
      "word": "berserkir"
    },
    {
      "word": "berzerker"
    },
    {
      "tags": [
        "common",
        "misspelling"
      ],
      "word": "beserker"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
      "word": "巴薩卡"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "bāsàkǎ",
      "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
      "word": "巴萨卡"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
      "word": "狂戰士"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "kuángzhànshì",
      "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
      "word": "狂战士"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "berserk"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "bersærk"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "berserker"
    },
    {
      "code": "fo",
      "lang": "Faroese",
      "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "berserkur"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
      "word": "berserkki"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Berserker"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Berserk"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "berserkur"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "beruseruku",
      "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
      "word": "ベルセルク"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "bāzākā",
      "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
      "word": "バーザーカー"
    },
    {
      "code": "no",
      "lang": "Norwegian",
      "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
      "word": "berserk"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "berserk"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "bersérker",
      "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "берсе́ркер"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "bersérk",
      "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "берсе́рк"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "berezárk",
      "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "береза́рк"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "bärsärk"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Illustrations of Northern Antiquities",
    "Swedish History Museum",
    "Torslunda plates",
    "Walter Scott"
  ],
  "word": "berserker"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.