Berg Is Short for Iceberg and German for Mountain
A berg is an iceberg. The word comes from a Germanic root meaning mountain, which explains many place names.
A berg is an iceberg, a large mass of floating ice broken from a glacier. The word is Dutch and German for mountain, so an iceberg is literally an ice mountain. The same element ends countless place names — Heidelberg, Nuremberg, Johannesburg — and appears in surnames across northern Europe. About nine tenths of an iceberg sits below water, which is why *the tip of the iceberg* means the small visible part of something much larger.
- An iceberg. *A drifting berg.*
- Mountain (German). *Berg.*
- Tip of the iceberg — the visible part. *The tip of the iceberg.*
- Growler — a small berg. *A growler.*
- Dutch — *ijsberg*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | berg | A berg. |
| Plural | bergs | Bergs. |
| Full form | iceberg | An iceberg. |
| German | Berg | A mountain. |
| Dutch | ijsberg | Iceberg. |
- A berg drifted past the ship.Ice.
- Berg means mountain in German.Etymology.
- Nine tenths lies below water.Fact.
Sizes of floating ice
- Iceberg — over five metres above water
- Bergy bit — one to five metres above water
- Growler — less than a metre showing, named for the sound it makes
- Brash ice — small fragments
- Growlers are the most dangerous because they are hardest to see
From *iceberg*, Dutch *ijsberg*, from *ijs*, ice, plus *berg*, a mountain.
Why is it called an iceberg?
From Dutch ijsberg, ice mountain. Berg means mountain in Dutch and German, and appears in many European place names.
How much of an iceberg is underwater?
About nine tenths, because ice is only slightly less dense than sea water.