berserker

Etymology


Borrowed from, probably from + , referring to the bearskins worn by the warriors. is possibly ultimately derived from ; and from. Alternatively, it has been suggested that the first element of the word is from, suggesting warriors who went into battle without armour, but this is now thought unlikely. .

The word was introduced in English by the Scottish author and historian (1771–1832) in  (1814) (spelled ), and in his novel The Pirate (1822) (spelled ). Sense 3 (“type of von Neumann probe whose mission is to exterminate alien lifeforms”) was (1930–2007) in 1963 in his Berserker series of novels and short stories.



Noun

 * 1)  A Norse warrior who purportedly fought in a trance-like frenzy; a berserk.
 * 2) One who fights as if frenzied, like a berserker.
 * 3)  A type of von Neumann probe whose mission is to exterminate alien lifeforms.
 * 1)  A type of von Neumann probe whose mission is to exterminate alien lifeforms.

Translations

 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin: 巴薩卡,
 * Czech:
 * Danish: bersærk
 * Dutch: berserker
 * Faroese: berserkur
 * Finnish: berserkki
 * German:, Berserk
 * Icelandic:
 * Japanese:, バーザーカー
 * Norwegian:
 * Polish:
 * Russian:, , береза́рк
 * Swedish: