iceberg
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Etymology
Borrowed from Dutch ijsberg (compound of ijs (“ice”) + berg (“mountain”)), from Middle Dutch ijsberch. 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. Cognate to German Eisberg, Danish isbjerg, Norwegian isberg and Swedish isberg. Figurative senses in reference to the fact that only one-tenth of an iceberg is usually visible above water.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈaɪsbɜːɡ/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈaɪsbɝɡ/
Audio (General Australian): (file) - Rhymes: -aɪsbɜː(ɹ)ɡ
- Hyphenation: ice‧berg
Noun
iceberg (plural icebergs)
- (obsolete) The seaward end of a glacier. [18th–19th c.]
- A huge mass of ocean-floating ice which has broken off a glacier or ice shelf [from 19th c.]
- The Titanic hit an iceberg and sank.
- (US, slang) An aloof person. [from 19th c.]
- (figuratively, after an adjective) An impending disastrous event whose adverse effects are only beginning to show.
- (figuratively, slang, chiefly Internet slang) A topic that is more convoluted and fractal than it may seem.
- Near-synonym: rabbit hole
- Do some digging into that politician's past life and associates, and you'll see that the iceberg runs deep.
- There's a massive iceberg of increasingly crazy fanfics out there based around those two characters.
- (by extension) A list, infographic, or other enumeration of such a topic and its subcomponents, often ordered into groups sorted by obscurity and bizarreness.
- Check out the gaming iceberg on this post! There's some really freaky titles there that I've never heard of.
- Today we're gonna talk about the Star Wars iceberg.
Derived terms
- bergy bit
- blue iceberg
- iceberg basement
- iceberg droppings
- iceberger
- iceberg green
- iceberg lettuce (Lactuca sativa var. capitata)
- iceberglike
- iceberg theory
- iceberg video
- icebergy
- tip of the iceberg
Related terms
Descendants
Translations
huge mass of floating ice
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See also
References
iceberg on Wikipedia.Wikipedia 
Category:Icebergs on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons - Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “iceberg”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Etymology
Borrowed from English iceberg, from Dutch ijsberg (literally “ice mountain”).
Pronunciation
Noun
iceberg m (plural icebergs)
Derived terms
Further reading
- “iceberg”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Noun
iceberg m (plural icebergs)
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