English

Spitsbergen

Spitsbergen comes from Dutch Spitsbergen.

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

A compound of spits ‘pointed, pointy’ + bergen ‘mountains’

Old High German spizzi

Middle High German spiz

German spitz

Dutch spits ‘pointed, pointy’

Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ- ‘to take care of, protect, preserve’

Proto-Germanic *berganą ‘to take care of’

Proto-West Germanic *bergan ‘to preserve, keep’

Old Dutch bergan ‘to shelter, to hide’

Middle Dutch bergen ‘to get to safety, to keep safe’

Dutch bergen ‘mountains’

Every English word from Dutch Spitsbergen

name Svalbard: An archipelago, territory, and unincorporated area of Norway northeast of Greenland, in the Arctic Ocean.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.