berlin English · revision 5632

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=eponym|attested=1694}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bəˈlɪn/, /bɜːˈlɪn/ ''(UK)''; /bɚˈlɪn/, /ˈbɝ.lɪn/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The carriage is named after [[Berlin]], the city in Brandenburg, where it was introduced about 1670,^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) partly through French berline;^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) MWU notes that it was fashionable there in the late 17th and 18th centuries.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An old-fashioned four-wheeled covered carriage with a hooded seat behind: 1694 in the OED, the 1690s in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A knitted glove of Berlin wool is from 1836.^(OED 1989) ''Berlin black'', a black varnish, is from 1795.^(OED 1989) From the French form came berline, a car with a glass partition behind the driver.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1694 – a carriage.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1795 – ''Berlin black''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1836 – a Berlin glove.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1841 – Berlin wool.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(historical)'' A four-wheeled closed [[carriage]] with a hooded seat at the back.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(often Berlin)'' Berlin wool, a fine wool used for knitting and [[embroidery]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[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.^(Etymonline) Berlin or berling, a half-decked galley, is a different, Scottish word, a variant of birling.^(OED 1989)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}