Bern

See also: bern

English

Pronunciation

  • (UK) enPR: bû(r)n, IPA(key): /bɜː(ɹ)n/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)n
  • Homophone: burn
  • (local) enPR: bârn, IPA(key): /bɛ(ɹ)n/
  • Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)n
  • Homophone: bairn

Etymology 1

canton of Bern (sense 2)

Alemannic German Bärn, of uncertain further origin.

A popular folk etymology says it was named by its founder, Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen, after the first animal he saw in the area, a Bär(in) (bear) (compare Berlin, subject to a similar folk etymology).

The name is now thought to be connected to a Celtic word, Proto-Celtic *berna (cleft) (from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (to carve out, cut))[1][2] and *branos (raven) (compare the name ΒΡΕΝΟΔΩΡ (BRENODŌR), on the Bern zinc tablet, which has also been connected with the Gaulish name Brennus). More at Bern.

Alternative forms

Proper noun

Bern (countable and uncountable, plural Berns)

  1. A placename
    1. The capital city of Switzerland; capital city of Bern canton.
    2. A canton of Switzerland.
  2. A surname
Derived terms
Translations

See also

References

  • Andres Kristol (ed.), 2005: Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen, Huber, Frauenfeld, p. 143. →ISBN
  1. Müller, Wulf; Tremp, Ernst (13 November 2013). "Üchtland". Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  2. Andres Kristol (ed.): Lexikon der schweizerischen Gemeindenamen. Huber, Frauenfeld 2005, p. 143.

Etymology 2

Abbreviations

Proper noun

Bern (plural Berns)

  1. A unisex given name, variant of Bernie
    1. A diminutive of the male given name Bernard, variant of Bernie
    2. A diminutive of the female given names Bernadette or Bernice, variant of Bernie

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Proper noun

Bern

  1. Bern (the capital city of Switzerland; capital city of Bern canton)
  2. Bern (a canton of Switzerland).

Derived terms

Czech

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈbɛrn]

Proper noun

Bern m inan (related adjective bernský)

  1. Bern (the capital city of Switzerland; capital city of Bern canton)
  2. Bern (a canton of Switzerland)

Declension

Further reading

  • Bern in Internetová jazyková příručka

Danish

Proper noun

Bern

  1. Bern (the capital city of Switzerland; capital city of Bern canton)
  2. Bern (a canton of Switzerland)

Dutch

Etymology 1

Borrowed from German Bern.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bɛrn/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: Bern
  • Rhymes: -ɛrn

Proper noun

Bern n

  1. Bern (the capital city of Switzerland; capital city of Bern canton)
  2. Bern (a canton of Switzerland)

Etymology 2

First attested as birni in 709. Derived from Proto-Germanic *birnu- (muck, manure, mud that looks like manure) with collectivising suffix *-ja-.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bɛrn/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: Bern
  • Rhymes: -ɛrn

Proper noun

Bern n

  1. A hamlet in Zaltbommel, Gelderland, Netherlands.

References

  • van Berkel, Gerard, Samplonius, Kees (2018) Nederlandse plaatsnamen verklaard (in Dutch), Mijnbestseller.nl, →ISBN

Estonian

Proper noun

Bern

  1. Bern (the capital city of Switzerland; capital city of Bern canton)
  2. Bern (a canton of Switzerland)

Faroese

Proper noun

Bern ?

  1. Bern (the capital of Switzerland)

German

Kanton Bern (sense 2)

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Alemannic German Bärn.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [bɛʁn]
  • (file)
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛʁn

Proper noun

Bern n (proper noun, genitive Berns or (optionally with an article) Bern)

  1. Bern (the capital city of Switzerland; capital city of Bern canton)
  2. Bern (a canton of Switzerland)
    Synonym: Kanton Bern

Derived terms

See also

Further reading

  • Bern” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • Bern” in Duden online
  • Bern” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon

Icelandic

Proper noun

Bern ?

  1. Bern (the capital of Switzerland)

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Alemannic German Bärn.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bêːrn/

Proper noun

Bȇrn m (Cyrillic spelling Бе̑рн)

  1. Bern (the capital city of Switzerland; capital city of Bern canton)
  2. Bern (a canton of Switzerland)

Declension

References

  • Bern” in Hrvatski jezični portal

Slovak

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [bern]

Proper noun

Bern m inan (genitive singular Bernu, declension pattern of dub)

  1. Bern (the capital of Switzerland)

References

  • Bern”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024

Swedish

Etymology

From Alemannic German Bärn.

Proper noun

Bern n (genitive Berns)

  1. Bern (the capital city of Switzerland; capital city of Bern canton)
  2. Bern (a canton of Switzerland)
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