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berserk

noun
/ˈbɜːsɜːk/UK/ˈbɚˌsɚk/US/bəˈzɜːk/UK/bɚˈsɚk/US/bəˈsɚk/

Etymology

The noun is borrowed from Old Norse berserkr (“Norse warrior who fights in a frenzy”), probably from bjǫrn (“bear”) + serkr (“coat; shirt”), referring to the bearskins which the warriors wore. 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”), referring to warriors who went into battle without armour, but this is now thought unlikely. Doublet of berserker. The adjective is derived from the noun. The verb might partly be a back-formation from berserker, analyzed as containing the suffix -er. Cognates * Icelandic berserkur * Norwegian Bokmål berserk * Norwegian Nynorsk berserk * Swedish bärsärk

  1. derived from *ser-✻ — “to bind, tie together; thread”
  2. derived from *bʰerH-✻ — “brown”
  3. borrowed from berserkr — “Norse warrior who fights in a frenzy”

Definitions

  1. Synonym of berserker (“a Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy”).

    • She had heard of his profligacy, his bursts of fierce Berserk-madness; and yet now these very faults, instead of repelling, seemed to attract her, and intensify her longing to save him.
    • The Professor, with his face flushed, his nostrils dilated, and his beard bristling, was now in a proper Berserk mood.

  2. Furiously, injuriously, or maniacally violent or out of control.

    • After seeing his sister stabbed to death, he went berserk and attacked the killer like a wild animal.
    • 'You went Berserk. I've read all about it in Hypatia.' […] 'You've gone Berserk and pretty soon you'll go to sleep. But you'll probably be liable to fits of it all your life,' Beetle concluded.

  3. Bizarre

    Bizarre; weird.

    • [T]he writer conjured up a dystopian fantasy more berserk than anything you might find yourself listening to in the small hours at the Stone Circle.
  4. ›+ 3 more definitions

    1. Wildly joyous

      Wildly joyous; ecstatic.

      • In amongst the strife, Scott McTominay, whose stoppage-time winner against Israel sent Hampden berserk, and Ryan Christie offered signs of an attacking pulse.

    2. To be or become berserk.

      • When great champions went berserking and were angry, they lost their human nature and went mad like dogs.
      • The oncoming horde berserked through the mine field, York field pieces going off in all directions.

    3. To make berserk.

      • He neither knows himself nor his outriders; he berserks a fearful dimension and dismounts, miraculously, in bed!
      • O holy Virgin, whereabout / Were you when all the swinish rout / Berserked the town? Those legions of the dead / Move only at the lash of lust. / Pray for us, or we die to trust— / Charred matchwood cursing Christ, who also bled.

The neighborhood

Derived

Berserkeley, berserk llama syndrome, berserkly, berserkness, berserko, go berserk

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for berserk. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA