Etymologically
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berlin

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /bəˈlɪn/, /bɜːˈlɪn/ (UK); /bɚˈlɪn/, /ˈbɝ.lɪn/ (US)[1]

Etymology

The carriage is named after Berlin, the city in Brandenburg, where it was introduced about 1670,[2][3] partly through French berline;[4][3] MWU notes that it was fashionable there in the late 17th and 18th centuries.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

An old-fashioned four-wheeled covered carriage with a hooded seat behind: 1694 in the OED, the 1690s in Etymonline.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Berlin wool, a fine dyed wool for knitting and embroidery, and the patterns made for it are from 1841 in Etymonline, and berlin alone for the wool from 1881 in the OED.[2][5] A knitted glove of Berlin wool is from 1836.[5] Berlin black, a black varnish, is from 1795.[5] From the French form came berline, a car with a glass partition behind the driver.[2]

Timeline

  • 1694 – a carriage.[5]
  • 1795 – Berlin black.[5]
  • 1836 – a Berlin glove.[5]
  • 1841 – Berlin wool.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (historical) A four-wheeled closed carriage with a hooded seat at the back.
  2. (often Berlin) Berlin wool, a fine wool used for knitting and embroidery.
  • Berlin
  • berline

Usage notes

The city's own name is likely Slavic, compare Old Polabian berl-, birl- “swamp”, for its low, marshy site on the River Spree; the derivation from German Bär “bear” is a folk etymology.[2] Berlin or berling, a half-decked galley, is a different, Scottish word, a variant of birling.[5][6]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)