iceberg

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁eyH-
2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁eyH-so-
3. Proto-Germanic*īsą
4. Proto-West Germanic*īs
5. Old Englishīs
6. Middle Englishis
7. Englishice
8. Dutchijsbergp
9. English todayiceberg

Partial calque of Dutch ijsberg (being, by surface analysis, ijs (“ice”) + berg (“mountain”)), from Middle Dutch ijsberch. A full calque might have been *icebarrow. Cognate with German Eisberg, Danish isbjerg, Norwegian isberg and Swedish isberg. First attested in 1774. Displaced native English island of ice and sea-hill. First used to describe a glacier as seen at a distance from a ship, then as a term to describe the floating chunks of ice broken off of such a glacier. Figurative senses (e.g., tip of the iceberg) in allusion to most of an iceberg being unseen underwater.

First known use, by meaning

• 1774–19th c. The seaward end of a glacier.
• from 1820 A huge mass of ocean-floating ice which has broken off a glacier or ice shelf
• from 19th c. An aloof person.