Berlin

Meaning

1. (neuter, proper-noun) Berlin (the capital and largest city and state of Germany)
2. (metonymically, neuter, proper-noun) Berlin (federal government of Germany)

Concepts

Berlin

east berlin

west berlin

Synonyms

Spreeathen

Hauptstadt von Deutschland

Bundeshauptstadt

deutsche Hauptstadt

Spreemetropole

Bärlin

Kitchener

Weltstadt mit Herz und Schnauze

Ostberlin

Westberlin

Translations

Berlin

Berlino

Berlín

Berlijn

Berlim

برلين

Βερολίνο

Berolinum

Berlín

Berlin

Berlîn

Berlin

Berlin

Berlin

Dialects

Basel-Landschaft

bärlyyn

Data provided by: Deutsch-Schweizerdeutsches Wörterbuch

Pronounced as (IPA)

[bɛʁˈliːn]

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle Low German: Berlyn

Cognate with Polabian: poro

In summary

The place is first mentioned by this name in the late 12th century (as Middle Low German Berlyn).
The origin is unknown. Slavic by the suffix -in.
According to (incorrect) folk etymology, the name is derived from the Bär (“bear”) that is the symbol of the city.
In a popular etymology of Germanists, it is derived from a Polabian stem *berl- ~ *birl- (“swamp”), for which lexical item there is no evidence in Polabian nor in any Slavic language. Closest to that would be an unknown simpler relative of *bьrlogъ (“cave”).
Attested vocabulary is Polabian poro (“swamp, bog”). *bělь also meant a “swampy meadow” or “white field”, which fits the location at the märkische Streusandbüchse, the “Margraviate pounce box” notorious for its sandy soil, and is also the noun behind Belitz.

Sentences

Dieser Intercity-Express fährt nach Berlin .

This Intercity Express goes to Berlin.

Können wir stattdessen mit dem Fernbus nach Berlin fahren ?

Can we take the long-distance bus to Berlin instead?

Stipe Erceg ist verheiratet , Vater zweier Kinder und lebt in Berlin .

Stipe Erceg is married, father of two children and lives in Berlin.

Er hatte Professuren an den Universitäten Berlin , Leiden , Erlangen und Halle inne .

He held professorships at the universities of Berlin, Leiden, Erlangen and Halle.

Sie soll die Beschäftigten der Berliner Bezirke und des Landes Berlin organisieren .

It is intended to organize the employees of the Berlin districts and the state of Berlin.

Danach war er am Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Züchtungsforschung in Müncheberg bei Berlin tätig .

He then worked at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Breeding Research in Müncheberg near Berlin.