Bernie

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /bɜːni/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɝni/
• Homophones: Berney, Burney, Burnie, burnie, burny
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)ni

Etymology 1

• (male): From Bernard +‎ -ie.
• (female): From Bernadette +‎ -ie or Bernice +‎ -ie.

Proper noun

Bernie (plural Bernies)

1. A unisex given name.
   1. A diminutive of the male given name Bernard, also used as a formal given name.
      • 1992, Thomas Keneally, Woman of the Inner Sea, Plume, published 1994, →ISBN, pages 18–19:

        A similar arrangement was made for her son Bernard, named in honor of the great Carthusian mystic (at least, that is what Jim Gaffney would softly tell Mrs. Kozinski) and of Bernie Astor, the publicist.

      • 2020 April 8, Chris Cillizza, “Why Joe Biden starts as the general election front-runner”, in CNN‎^[1]:

        With Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ decision to end his campaign on Wednesday, it’s now official: Former Vice President Joe Biden will be the Democratic presidential nominee this fall.

   2. A diminutive of the female given names Bernice and Bernadette.
      • 1864 Mary Andrews Denison, Out of Prison, Graves and Young (1864), pages 21-22:

        To catch a nearer view of the coming ship, now much larger than the mere speck it had at first appeared, little Bernice, or Bernie, as she was most lovingly called at home, had moved far in advance of her mother, till now she stood quite near to the edge of the wharf.

Derived terms

• Berner
• Bernie bro
• BernieCare
• Berniecrat
• Bernista
• feel the Bern

Related terms

• Bern
• Berner

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

English Bernese

Proto-Germanic *-j-, *-ij-

Proto-West Germanic *-i, *-ī

Old English -iġ

Middle English -y

English -y

English -ie

English Bernie

From Bernese + -ie.

Noun

Bernie (plural Bernies)

1. (informal) A Bernese mountain dog.

Anagrams

• Beirne, berine

East Central German

Proper noun

Bernie m

1. (Erzgebirgisch) a diminutive of the male given name Bernhardt

Further reading

• Hendrik Heidler (11 June 2020), Hendrik Heidler's 400 Seiten: Echtes Erzgebirgisch: Wuu de Hasen Hoosn haaßn un de Hosen Huusn do sei mir drhamm: Das Original Wörterbuch: Ratgeber und Fundgrube der erzgebirgischen Mund- und Lebensart: Erzgebirgisch – Deutsch / Deutsch – Erzgebirgisch‎^[2] (in German), 3. geänderte Auflage edition, Norderstedt: BoD – Books on Demand, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 22