First recorded in 1835–45; named after Bertha (died a.d. 783), wife of Frankish king Pepin the Short; she was famed for her modesty
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To show that it was the PKF proteins that were doing the killing, University of British Columbia molecular biologist David Theilmann and colleagues infected bertha armyworms with two baculovirus species, MacoNPV-A and MacoNPV-B.
From Science Magazine ● Jul. 29, 2021
Edwardian sleeves and bertha collars, ribbons, roses and trailing black velvet are the tricks of the trade.
From Time Magazine Archive
My dress was black velvet with a very rich bertha.
From Letters from England by Bancroft, Elizabeth Davis
She wore an old black silk frock with muslin bertha.
From A Daughter of the Vine by Atherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn
She was dressed in a dark green velvet evening dress, whose white lace bertha was carelessly pinned with a magnificent solitaire.
From Faithful Margaret A Novel by Ashmore, Annie
Bertha was expected to produce 2 to 4 inches of rainfall, with isolated totals around 6 inches, through Thursday, from western Florida into southern Louisiana, making flash flooding possible especially in urban areas.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
Bertha is forecast to weaken back to a tropical depression on Thursday and may dissipate by the end of the week as it nears the Texas coast.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
As Ms. Weinman tells it, by the early 1990s state Rep. Bertha Holt had been trying to get a law passed for more than 10 years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
George never approved of Bertha using Gladys as currency to secure their power in society, regardless of what that successful union gains them.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2025
If Bertha is anywhere nearby, we’re in trouble.
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
