Spitsbergen

English

Alternative forms

• Spitzbergen (dated)

Etymology

From Dutch Spitsbergen, from spits (“pointed, pointy”) + bergen (“mountains”), see there.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspɪtsˌbɛə(ɹ)ɡən/, /ˈspɪtsˌbɜː(ɹ)ɡən/

Proper noun

Spitsbergen

1. (dated) Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago located to the east of Greenland.
2. The largest island of this archipelago.

Synonyms

• (archipelago): Svalbard
• (island): West Spitsbergen (dated)

Translations

island

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 斯匹次卑爾根島／斯匹次卑尔根岛 (Sīpǐcìbēi'ěrgēn-dǎo)

• Danish: Spitsbergen, Vestspitsbergen
• Dutch: Spitsbergen (nl) n
• French: Spitzberg (fr) m, Spitsberg m
• German: Spitzbergen (de) n; West-Spitzbergen n
• Japanese: スピッツベルゲン島 (Spittsuberugen-tō)
• Norwegian: Spitsbergen
• Portuguese: Spitzbergen f, Spitsbergen f
• Russian: Западный Шпицбе́рген m (Zapadnyj Špicbérgen)

Dutch

Spitsbergen (1)

Alternative forms

• Spitsberghen (obsolete)

Etymology

Compound of spits +‎ bergen, referring to the “pointed mountains” Dutch navigator and explorer Willem Barentsz sighted on the west coast of the main island. Because Barentsz was unaware of having discovered an archipelago, the name was long used to refer both to the main island and the whole archipelago.

The hamlet is attested as Spitsbergen in 1851–1855 and is named after the archipelago.

The neighbourhood is name after a piece of land named in turn after the archipelago.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈspɪtsˌbɛr.ɣə(n)/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Spits‧ber‧gen
• Rhymes: -ɛrɣən

Proper noun

Spitsbergen n

1. Svalbard (the archipelago) [from 17th c.]
2. Spitsbergen (the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago) [from late 16th c.]
3. A hamlet in Midden-Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands.
4. A neighbourhood of Veenendaal, Utrecht, Netherlands.

Descendants

• Afrikaans: Spitsbergen
• → English: Spitsbergen
• → German: Spitzbergen
• → Russian: Шпицбе́рген (Špicbérgen)

References

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

Portuguese

Proper noun

Spitsbergen f

1. Alternative spelling of Spitzbergen