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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
ber·serk    Audio Help   [ber-surk, -zurk] Pronunciation Key
–adjective
1.violently or destructively frenzied; wild; crazed; deranged: He suddenly went berserk.
–noun
2.(sometimes initial capital letter) Scandinavian Legend. Also, ber·serk·er. an ancient Norse warrior who fought with frenzied rage in battle, possibly induced by eating hallucinogenic mushrooms.

[Origin: 1865–70; < ON berserkr, equiv. to ber- (either *ber-, base of bjǫrn bear2 or berr bare1) + serkr sark, shirt, armor]

ber·serk·ly, adverb
ber·serk·ness, noun

1. violent, mad, maniacal, rabid, demented, lunatic.
1. rational, calm.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
berserk

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ber·serk    Audio Help   (bər-sûrk', -zûrk', bə-)  Pronunciation Key 
adj.  
  1. Destructively or frenetically violent: a berserk worker who started smashing all the windows.
  2. Mentally or emotionally upset; deranged: berserk with grief.
  3. Informal Unrestrained, as with enthusiasm or appetite; wild: berserk over chocolates.

n.  
  1. One that is violent, upset, or unrestrained.
  2. A berserker.


[Back-formation from berserker.]

ber·serk' adv., ber·serk'ly adv.
Word History: When we say that we are going berserk, we may not realize how extreme a state this might be. Our adjective comes from the noun berserker, or berserk, which is from the Old Norse word berserkr, "a wild warrior or champion." Such warriors wore hides of bears, which explains the probable origin of berserkr as a compound of *bera, "bear," and serkr, "shirt, coat." These berserkers became frenzied in battle, howling like animals, foaming at the mouth, and biting the edges of their iron shields. Berserker is first recorded in English in the early 19th century, long after these wild warriors ceased to exist.

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Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
berserk 
1822, introduced by Sir Walter Scott, from O.N. berserkr (n.) "raging warrior of superhuman strength," probably from *ber- "bear" + serkr "shirt," thus lit. "a warrior clothed in bearskin." The -r was O.N. masc. singular ending, mistaken for agent noun suffix. The adj. is 1867, from such phrases as go berserk.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
berserk

adjective
1. frenzied as if possessed by a demon; "the soldier was completely amuck"; "berserk with grief"; "a berserk worker smashing windows" [syn: amuck

noun
1. one of the ancient Norse warriors legendary for working themselves into a frenzy before a battle and fighting with reckless savagery and insane fury [syn: berserker

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Berserk

Ber"serk\, Berserker \Ber"serk*er\, n. [Icel. berserkr.]

1. (Scand. Myth.) One of a class of legendary heroes, who fought frenzied by intoxicating liquors, and naked, regardless of wounds. --Longfellow.

2. One who fights as if frenzied, like a Berserker.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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