Meanings
- An archipelago, territory, and unincorporated area of Norway northeast of Greenland, in the Arctic Ocean.
Together with Vitterso, she devised a ‘winter mindset questionnaire’ to assess people’s attitudes to winter in Tromso, the Svalbard archipelago and the Oslo area.
2017 March 13, Linda Geddes, “The dark town that built a giant mirror to deflect the Sun”, in BBC, archived from the original on 13 Aug 2021Synonyms: Spitsbergen, Spitzbergen, Greenland, Grumant
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounAn archipelago, territory, and unincorporated area of Norway northeast of Greenland, in the Arctic Ocean.
Origin
- Old NorseSvalbarð n
- EnglishSvalbard
Borrowed from Old Norse Svalbarð n probably through Norwegian. From svalr (“cool”) + barð (“edge, brim”), thus roughly meaning “cold shore”, probably alluding to the treeless landscape mostly covered with grass. The name was first attested in annales referring to year 1194, but it’s uncertain whether it referred to the modern archipelago. Cognate with Faroese Svalbarð, Icelandic Svalbarði and Norwegian Svalbard.
More words from Old Norse
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic سْفَالْبَارْد
- سْفَالْبَارْد (sfalbard)islands north east of Greenland
Bulgarian Сва́лбард, Шпицбе́рген
- Сва́лбард (Sválbard)islands north east of Greenland
- Шпицбе́рген (Špicbérgen)islands north east of Greenland
Chinese Mandarin 斯瓦爾巴 /斯瓦尔巴
- 斯瓦爾巴 /斯瓦尔巴 (Sīwǎ'ěrbā)islands north east of Greenland
Czech Špicberky
- Špicberkyislands north east of Greenland
Danish Svalbard
- Svalbardislands north east of Greenland
Dutch Spitsbergen
- Spitsbergenislands north east of Greenland
Esperanto Svalbardo
- Svalbardoislands north east of Greenland
Finnish Huippuvuoret
- Huippuvuoretislands north east of Greenland
French Svalbard
- Svalbardislands north east of Greenland
German Spitzbergen, Svalbard
- Spitzbergenislands north east of Greenland
- Svalbardislands north east of Greenland
Greek Σφάλμπαρ, Σβάλμπαρντ
- Σφάλμπαρ (Sfálmpar)islands north east of Greenland
- Σβάλμπαρντ (Sválmparnt)islands north east of Greenland
Icelandic Svalbarði
- Svalbarðiislands north east of Greenland
Italian Svalbard
- Svalbardislands north east of Greenland
Japanese スバールバル, スヴァールバル諸島
- スバールバル (Subārubaru)islands north east of Greenland
- スヴァールバル諸島 (Suvārubaru shotō)islands north east of Greenland
Korean 스발바르
- 스발바르 (Seubalbareu)islands north east of Greenland
Latin Svalbardum
- Svalbardumislands north east of Greenland
Norwegian Bokmål Svalbard
- Svalbardislands north east of Greenland
Polish Svalbard
- Svalbardislands north east of Greenland
Portuguese Esvalbarda
- Esvalbardaislands north east of Greenland
Romanian Svalbard
- Svalbardislands north east of Greenland
Russian Сва́льбард, Шпицбе́рген
- Сва́льбард (Sválʹbard)islands north east of Greenland
- Шпицбе́рген (Špicbérgen)islands north east of Greenland
Slovak Špicbergy
- Špicbergyislands north east of Greenland
Spanish Svalbard
- Svalbardislands north east of Greenland
Swedish Svalbard
- Svalbardislands north east of Greenland
Turkish Svalbard
- Svalbardislands north east of Greenland
Cite this entry
Svalbard. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Svalbard
“Svalbard.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Svalbard. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Svalbard,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Svalbard.
Source: Svalbard on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.