berserk

[ ber-surk, -zurk ]

/ bərˈsɜrk, -ˈzɜrk /

adjective

violently or destructively frenzied; wild; crazed; deranged: He suddenly went berserk.

noun

(sometimes initial capital letter) Scandinavian Legend. Also ber·serk·er. an ancient Norse warrior who fought with frenzied rage in battle, possibly induced by eating hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Origin of berserk

1865–70; < Old Norse berserkr, equivalent to ber- (either *ber-, base of bjǫrn bear² or berr bare¹) + serkr sark, shirt, armor

SYNONYMS FOR berserk

1 violent, mad, maniacal, rabid, demented, lunatic.

ANTONYMS FOR berserk

1 rational, calm.

Related formsber·serk·ly, adverbber·serk·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for berserker

As for the other two famous images, the blood eagle and the berserker—those are the result of mistranslations.
How the Vikings Saved Europe and Got a Terrible Reputation|William O’Connor|September 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As the mother on learning the tragic truth had taken refuge in a dead faint, so he took refuge in a Berserker rage.
Woman|William J. Robinson
Then in the Jam-wagon there awoke the ancient spirit of the Berserker.
The Trail of '98|Robert W. Service
It seemed to him as if his heaven—the savage Walhalla of his Saxon or Danish berserker race—were opened before him.
Overland|John William De Forest

He was a veritable mountain of a man, and now in the throes of a berserker rage he was a formidable opponent.
The Efficiency Expert|Edgar Rice Burroughs
But he was no match for the berserker rage which had transformed the man from the woods.
Joan of Arc of the North Woods|Holman Day

British Dictionary definitions for berserker

berserk

/ (bəˈzɜːk, -ˈsɜːk) /

adjective

frenziedly violent or destructive (esp in the phrase go berserk)

noun

Also called: berserker a member of a class of ancient Norse warriors who worked themselves into a frenzy before battle and fought with insane fury and courage

Word Origin for berserk

C19: Icelandic berserkr, from björn bear + serkr shirt

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for berserker (1 of 2)

berserker

alternative form of berserk (q.v.), from Old Norse berserkr, accusative of berserk. This is the oldest form of the word in its revival in Modern English (1822), and perhaps Scott, who introduced it, mistook the -r for an agent-noun suffix. Further compicated because it has the form of the Old Norse plural, and English berserker sometimes is plural.

Word Origin and History for berserker (1 of 2)

berserk

adj.

1844, from berserk (n.) "Norse warrior," by 1835, an alternative form of berserker (1822), a word which was introduced by Sir Walter Scott, from Old Norse berserkr (n.) "raging warrior of superhuman strength;" probably from *ber- "bear" + serkr "shirt," thus literally "a warrior clothed in bearskin." Thus not from Old Norse berr "bare, naked."

Thorkelin, in the essay on the Berserkir, appended to his edition of the Krisini Saga, tells that an old name of the Berserk frenzy was hamremmi, i.e., strength acquired from another strange body, because it was anciently believed that the persons who were liable to this frenzy were mysteriously endowed, during its accesses, with a strange body of unearthly strength. If, however, the Berserk was called on by his own name, he lost his mysterious form, and his ordinary strength alone remained. ["Notes and Queries," Dec. 28, 1850]

The adjectival use probably is from such phrases as berserk frenzy, or as a title (Arngrim the Berserk).

berserk

adjective

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of berserk

Examples from the Web for berserker

British Dictionary definitions for berserker

berserk

adjective

noun

Word Origin for berserk

Word Origin and History for berserker (1 of 2)

berserker

Word Origin and History for berserker (1 of 2)

berserk