Wiktionary

iceberg

English

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Iceberg diagram
 
An iceberg

Etymology

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Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH-
Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH-so-der.
Proto-Germanic *īsą
Proto-West Germanic *īs
Old English īs
Middle English is
English ice
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Dutch ijsbergpcalq.
English iceberg

    Partial calque of Dutch ijsberg (compound of ijs (“ice”) +‎ berg (“mountain”)), from Middle Dutch ijsberch. First used to describe a glacier as seen at a distance from a ship then used as a term to describe the floating chunks of ice broken off from such glaciers. Cognate to German Eisberg, Danish isbjerg, Norwegian isberg and Swedish isberg. Figurative senses in reference to the fact that only one-tenth of an iceberg is usually visible above water.

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    iceberg (plural icebergs)

    1. (obsolete) The seaward end of a glacier. [18th–19th c.]
    2. A huge mass of ocean-floating ice which has broken off a glacier or ice shelf [from 19th c.]
      The Titanic hit an iceberg and sank.
      • 1997, Preston, Diana, Preston, Diana A first rate tragedy Constable, London: 160‎[1]:
        Clissold the excellent cook, who should have gone with the motor party, tumbled off a small iceberg and concussed himself while posing or 'ponting' as it had come to be known- Griffith Taylor, with his usual wit, had defined 'to pont' as 'to spend a deuce of a time posing in an uncomfortable position'.
      • 2000, Michelle Jerott, A Great Catch, Avon Books, →ISBN:
        The passengers still on board were keen to watch as Tessa's crew scrambled for their positions, and she heard jokes about icebergs and devil's triangles, and anxious childish queries answered by soothing adult tones.
      • 2025 March 4, Jack Guy, “World’s biggest iceberg runs aground off South Georgia”, in CNN‎[2], archived from the original on 6 April 2025:
        And although the iceberg appears to be maintaining its structure for now, in recent decades large icebergs that have taken this route “soon break up, disperse and melt,” said Meijers.
    3. (US, slang) An aloof person. [from 19th c.]
    4. (figuratively, after an adjective) An impending disastrous event whose adverse effects are only beginning to show.
      • 2013 November 23, “How Barack Obama can get at least some of his credibility back”, in The Economist‎[3], archived from the original on 10 January 2025:
        He has little to lose: at present he will go down in history, alongside George W. Bush, as a skipper who ignored the looming fiscal iceberg.
    5. (figuratively, slang, chiefly Internet slang) A topic that is more convoluted and fractal than it may seem.
      Near-synonym: rabbit hole
      Do some digging into that politician's past life and associates, and you'll see that the iceberg runs deep.
      There's a massive iceberg of increasingly crazy fanfics out there based around those two characters.
      1. (by extension) A list, infographic, or other enumeration of such a topic and its subcomponents, often ordered into groups sorted by obscurity and bizarreness.
        Check out the gaming iceberg on this post! There's some really freaky titles there that I've never heard of.
        Today we're gonna talk about the Star Wars iceberg.

    Derived terms

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    Descendants

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    Translations

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    See also

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    References

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    French

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    Etymology

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    Borrowed from English iceberg, from Dutch ijsberg (literally “ice mountain”).

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    iceberg m (plural icebergs)

    1. iceberg

    Derived terms

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    Further reading

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    Galician

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    Noun

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    iceberg m (plural icebergs)

    1. iceberg

    Italian

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    Etymology

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    Unadapted borrowing from English iceberg, from Dutch ijsberg (literally “ice mountain”).

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    iceberg m (invariable)

    1. iceberg
      Synonyms: montagna di ghiaccio, monte di ghiaccio, (rare) isbergo, (rare) ghiaccione, (uncommon) mongelato

    Derived terms

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    See also

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    References

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    1. ^ iceberg in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

    Portuguese

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    Alternative forms

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    Etymology

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    Unadapted borrowing from English iceberg, from Dutch ijsberg (literally “ice mountain”).

    Pronunciation

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    • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˌaj.seˈbɛʁ.ɡi/ [ˌaɪ̯.seˈbɛɦ.ɡi], /ˌaj.siˈbɛʁ.ɡi/ [ˌaɪ̯.siˈbɛɦ.ɡi]
      • (São Paulo) IPA(key): /ˌaj.seˈbɛɾ.ɡi/ [ˌaɪ̯.seˈbɛɾ.ɡi], /ˌaj.siˈbɛɾ.ɡi/ [ˌaɪ̯.siˈbɛɾ.ɡi]
      • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA(key): /ˌaj.seˈbɛʁ.ɡi/ [ˌaɪ̯.seˈbɛʁ.ɡi], /ˌaj.siˈbɛʁ.ɡi/ [ˌaɪ̯.siˈbɛʁ.ɡi]
      • (Caipira) IPA(key): /ˌaj.seˈbɛɻ.ɡi/ [ˌaɪ̯.seˈbɛɻ.ɡi], /ˌaj.siˈbɛɻ.ɡi/ [ˌaɪ̯.siˈbɛɻ.ɡi]
     
    • (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˌaj.sɨˈbɛɾ.ɡɨ/ [ˌaj.sɨˈβɛɾ.ɣɨ]
      • (Southern Portugal) IPA(key): /ˌaj.sɨˈbɛɾ.ɡɨ/

    Noun

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    iceberg m (plural icebergs)

    1. iceberg (huge mass of floating ice)

    Further reading

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    Spanish

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    Alternative forms

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    Etymology

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    Unadapted borrowing from English iceberg, from Dutch ijsberg (literally “ice mountain”).

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    iceberg m (plural icebergs)

    1. iceberg (A huge mass of ocean-floating ice)
      Synonym: témpano de hielo
      la punta del iceberg ― the tip of the iceberg
    2. (figuratively, Internet slang) an iceberg (A list, infographic, or other enumeration of such a topic and its subcomponents); (by extension) an iceberg video

    Derived terms

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    Further reading

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