Berkeley

American  

[burk-lee, bahrk-lee] / ˈbɜrk li, ˈbɑrk li /

noun

1. Busby William Berkeley Enos, 1895–1976, U.S. choreographer and musical-film director.

2. George, 1685?–1753, Irish bishop and philosopher.

3. Sir William, 1610–77, British colonial governor of Virginia 1642–76.

4. a city in western California, on San Francisco Bay.

5. a city in eastern Missouri, near St. Louis.

6. Also Barclay a first name.

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Berkeley ¹ British  

/ ˈbɑːklɪ /

noun

1. Busby . real name William Berkeley Enos . 1895–1976, US dance director, noted esp for his elaborate choreography in film musicals

2. George . 1685–1753, Irish philosopher and Anglican bishop, whose system of subjective idealism was expounded in his works A Treatise concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge (1710) and Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous (1713). He also wrote Essay towards a New Theory of Vision (1709)

3. Sir Lennox ( Randal Francis ). 1903–89, British composer; his works include four symphonies, four operas, and the Serenade for Strings (1939)

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Berkeley ² British  

/ ˈbɜːklɪ /

noun

1. a city in W California, on San Francisco Bay: seat of the University of California. Pop: 102 049 (2003 est)

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Berkeley Cultural  

1. City in California on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay.

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Discover More

Berkeley is the location of a distinguished branch of the University of California. The University of California at Berkeley has been a center for student activism and social-change movements, particularly in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Example Sentences

When Gleick wrote his dissertation at UC Berkeley in the 1980s, he examined a range of climate scenarios and analyzed how rising temperatures would likely change the timing of runoff in Northern California.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

However, Berkeley said it would continue to make land acquisitions through joint-venture arrangements.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have now uncovered the answer.

From Science Daily • Mar. 30, 2026

Questions from his son-in-law inspired Baldocchi, now a professor emeritus of biometeorology at the University of California, Berkeley, to investigate whether it was in fact fading.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026

This time Neylan’s target was Melvin Calvin, a future Nobel laureate who had worked at the Metallurgical Lab in Chicago and then moved to Berkeley to research peacetime applications of medical radioisotopes with John Lawrence.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik