Viking

American  

[vahy-king] / ˈvaɪ kɪŋ /

noun

(sometimes lowercase)

• Vikings
  plural

1. any of the Scandinavian pirates who plundered the coasts of Europe from the 8th to 10th centuries.

2. a sea-roving bandit; pirate.

3. a Scandinavian.

4. U.S. Aerospace. one of a series of space probes that obtained scientific information about Mars.

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Viking British  

/ ˈvaɪkɪŋ /

noun

1. Also called: Norseman, Northman. any of the Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes who raided by sea most of N and W Europe from the 8th to the 11th centuries, later often settling, as in parts of Britain

2. any sea rover, plunderer, or pirate

3. either of two unmanned American spacecraft that reached Mars in 1976

4. (modifier) of, relating to, or characteristic of a Viking or Vikings

   a Viking ship

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Vikings
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Viking

1800–10; < Scandinavian; compare Old Norse vīkingr; compare Old English wīcing pirate; etymology disputed

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Viking Vikings

Villa could still make light of it in Europe, though, with Viking also travelling to Birmingham in the league phase on 21 October.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

Viking row celebrations took over the World Cup, and have since been adopted by college football fans.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

So did every AI video that depicted him as a Viking, crossing the Atlantic in a wooden longboat, ready to raid East Rutherford, New Jersey.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

In the meantime, a temporary exhibition displays highlights of Viking Age archaeological finds at the Museum of Cultural History.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026

We certainly would not have certified a Viking landing site as safe if orbital photographs had shown such shifting patterns.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Hill's incident involved linebacker Eric Wilson, who featured for Minnesota Vikings as they defeated the visiting Miami Dolphins 15-10.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

The team had also signed Cousins, who played for the Minnesota Vikings when Kubiak was an assistant there, to keep the seat warm for Mendoza.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

Few expected the Minnesota Vikings to be 3-0, though.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

Obviously, Scandinavian national museums expect that audiences, domestic and international, visit their museums to see objects from and hear stories about the Vikings.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026

The Lamar Vikings hadn’t wilted at all under the hot sun of Odessa.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger