iceberg

Etymology

It is probably a partial loan translation borrowed from Dutch ijsberg (“ice mountain”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} ijsberg,^[2][7][8] with the English word ice put in place of the first element.^[2][9] The Dutch compound is formed from ijs (“ice”) and berg (“mountain, hill”),^[4][2][6] the second from Proto-Indo-European *bhergh- (“high”), the root of barrow, a mound.^[4][5][3] The OED thinks the English word was probably also influenced by its equivalents in the other Germanic languages, German Eisberg (recorded from 1676), Danish isbjerg and Swedish isberg, which were used in both of its early senses; it compares Middle Low German īsborch as well.^[2] Merriam-Webster instead takes it as probably a partial translation of isberg, which it gives as Danish or Norwegian.^[10] Earlier English names for the thing were “island of ice” (1610s) and “sea-hill” (1690s),^[4] and the OED compares the older ice mountain.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A glacier close to the coast, seen from the sea as a hill or mound of ice: 1773, in the Gentleman's and London Magazine.^[2][10] Etymonline and Barnhart date the word to 1774,^[4][3] and Dictionary.com to 1765–75.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, a glacier looking like a hill of ice from the sea, was used until the late 19th century and is now obsolete.^[2][7] The modern sense, a large mass of ice floating loose in the sea after breaking off a glacier, is recorded from 1784, in Pennant's Arctic Zoology;^[2] Etymonline dates it to 1820.^[4] Since an iceberg shows only a small part of itself above water, the word came to be used for anything of which most is hidden or unknown (1916), chiefly in the tip of the iceberg, the small visible part of a much larger problem.^[2][8] Barnhart dates this figurative sense to 1957 and the phrase to 1963,^[3] Etymonline the phrase to 1962.^[4] From 1840 a cold, unemotional person could also be called an iceberg,^[2] a use Collins labels as chiefly American slang.^[8] Iceberg lettuce is recorded from 1893, apparently first as a trade name.^[4]

Timeline

• 1773 – a glacier near the coast, seen from the sea as a hill of ice (obsolete by 1879).^[2][10] Etymonline and Barnhart date the word to 1774.^[4][3]
• 1784 – a large mass of ice floating in the sea.^[2] Etymonline dates this sense to 1820.^[4]
• 1840 – a cold, unemotional person.^[2]
• 1893 – iceberg lettuce.^[4]
• 1916 – something of which the greater part is hidden or unknown, chiefly in the tip of the iceberg.^[2] Barnhart dates the phrase to 1963.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A large mass of ice floating in the sea, usually broken off a glacier, with only a small part showing above the water: The tanker changed course to avoid an iceberg.^[8][10][2]
2. the tip of the iceberg: the small visible part of something, especially a problem, that is much larger: The reported thefts are only the tip of the iceberg.^[8][2]
3. Something of which only a small part is seen or known.^[10][2]
4. A person with a cold or reserved manner.^[8][10][2]
5. (obsolete, 1773–1879) A glacier near the coast, seen from the sea as a hill of ice.^[2][7][10]

Word family

• tip of the iceberg

Related words

• ice
• berg
• barrow

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster