berserk
Part of speech: noun
adj
verb
Morphological type: simple
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
Inflected forms:
form: berserks
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: beserk
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: berzerk
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: more berserk
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most berserk
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: berserks
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: berserking
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: berserked
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: berserked
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: Synonym of berserker (“a Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy”).
pos: noun
tags: historical
examples: 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.
gloss: Furiously, injuriously, or maniacally violent or out of control.
pos: adj
examples: 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.
gloss: Bizarre; weird.
pos: adj
tags: broadly
examples: [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.
gloss: Wildly joyous; ecstatic.
pos: adj
tags: broadly
dialectal
rare
slang
examples: In amongst the strife, Scott McTominay, whose stoppage-time winner against Israel sent Hampden berserk, and Ryan Christie offered signs of an attacking pulse.
gloss: To be or become berserk.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: When great champions went berserking and were angry, they lost their human nature and went mad like dogs.
I suppose losing one hand made Stack especially sensitive to the possible loss of another. The wound was superficial, but he berserked. He killed the native with a riot gun, then turned it on the rest of them. A lieutenant had to bludgeon him into unconsciousness before he could be stopped.
The oncoming horde berserked through the mine field, York field pieces going off in all directions.
Last night we drove through suddenly warring weather. Wind and lightning havocked, berserked in wires, trees.
You grew cool faster when danger lurked, / Yeah, learned a new yearn when senses berserked.
But the blood was in Mym’s mouth, and his berserker rage was coming upon him. No mortal man could match the reflexes and power of a berserker; the fact that Mym’s rage was controlled did not change that. “Isn’t that quaint,” Satan said. “He berserks. Perhaps this will be at least minimally entertaining.” He thrust with the spear again, and Mym dodged aside again, but the miss was narrow.
The American held his serve to love, and by way of a flourish sent one of the balls up to his opponent with a courtesy ace. He followed this with a pretended prayer of thanks and a self-deprecating gesture. The crowd berserked. The camera, sneaking another quick look at the chanteuse, was rewarded with the flicker of a smile.
The vengeance stalk flashed, more fighting. Rage unleashed until he berserked. The cold FirstFamilies Guildhall. Judging eyes. Pride. Anger. Triumph.
“His enemy was France, but he destroyed his own people to be certain of their allegiance. I watched him charge against a helpless countryside. He berserks, slashes, burns—oh, he’s formidable when he wants a piece of ground. Now he covets Aquitaine.”
I berserked / on my loving dog’s / puppies / Poor Molly / I killed her babies / […] / I berserked in New Hampshire / axing my children’s / chickens to death / in a complete rage / I went berserk / and attacked / the chicken coop
First I see of the Wasters is when they berserk through the rubble.
For example, one year after Omega Man’s release Welcome Home, Soldier Boys (Richard Compton, 1972) depicts scenes of soldiers “berserking,” and Skyjacked (John Guillermin, 1972) pits an airline pilot (played by Heston as well) against a berserk Vietnam veteran hijacking a commercial airplane.
She came to a stop before Vaegar and Gaea, eyes darting to Fenris. “I’m sorry. Am I disturbing something? Were you about to berserk the fuck out?” she asked just as casually as she would inquire about the weather.
“I was expecting an ax-wielding berserker at the very least.” “You would,” Grace retorts, but she’s trying not to laugh. “I only berserk on Sundays.” Charity chokes on her cocktail, and Grace leans over and pats her back. “You don’t berserk at all.”
Billy was by all accounts to be a Viking. Six feet four inches tall with a blond beard down to his chest, blue grey eyes that seem to never blink when looking at you. Billy was ready to berserk on a moment’s notice and people sensed it.
He loves toying with his victims before he mutilates them. He berserks out when there’s copious amounts of blood.
Defying musket and cannon blast, they berserk preemptively against the Tlaxcaltecah.
gloss: To make berserk.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: 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.
After a quote from Miller, calling Bukowski the “poet satyr of today’s underground,” and another from Bukowski, “Sexual intercourse is kicking death in the ass while singing,” Jon worked to lure an audience to see the “world famous poet, critic and storyteller whose Notes of a Dirty Old Man so far has sold 250,000 copies & whose All the Assholes in the World & Mine berserked the establishment to billy-club screams of outrage.”
It can use Slash to physically attack one character or Wrath to berserk the party.
Related words: amok
Derived words: Berserkeley
berserk llama syndrome
berserkly
berserkness
berserko
go berserk
Translations: