iceberg

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch ijsberg, compound of ijs (“ice”) + berg (“mountain”). 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. Compare German Eisberg, Danish isbjerg, Norwegian/Swedish isberg, Welsh eisberg.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈaɪsbɜːɡ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈaɪsbɝɡ/

Noun

iceberg (plural icebergs)

1. A huge mass of ocean-floating ice which has broken off a glacier or ice shelf

   The Titanic hit an iceberg and sank.

2. (US, slang) An aloof person.
3. (figuratively, after an adjective) An impending disastrous event whose adverse effects are only beginning to show, in reference to one-tenth of the volume of an iceberg being visible above water.
   • 2013, “How Barack Obama can get at least some of his credibility back”, in The Economist‎:

     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.

See also

• freeboard
• growler
• melt pond

References

• iceberg on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Icebergs on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• “iceberg” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2018.

Etymology

From English iceberg, from Dutch ijsberg.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ajs.bɛʁɡ/, /is.bɛʁɡ/
• Rhymes: -ɛʁɡ
• Homophone: icebergs

Noun

iceberg m (plural icebergs)

1. iceberg

Further reading

• “iceberg” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Noun

iceberg m (plural [please provide])

1. iceberg

Noun

iceberg m (invariable)

1. iceberg

Alternative forms

• icebergue (uncommon)

Noun

iceberg m (plural icebergs)

1. iceberg

Etymology

From English iceberg.

Pronunciation

• (Castilian) IPA^(key): /ˈiθe̞βe̞ɾ(x)/, /iθe̞ˈβe̞ɾ(x)/
• (Latin America) IPA^(key): /ˈajsβe̞ɾɡ/

Noun

iceberg m (plural icebergs)

1. iceberg