Svalbard

English

Wikivoyage

Etymology

The name was first attested in 1194 as Old Norse Svalbarði, from svalr (“cold”) + barð (“edge, ridge, turf, beard”), thus roughly meaning “cold shore,” probably alluding to the treeless landscape mostly covered with grass, although there is uncertainty as to what the name originally referred to.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsvɑːlbɑː(ɹ)/, (anglicized) /ˈsvɑːlbɑː(ɹ)d/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Proper noun

Svalbard

1. A group of islands northeast of Greenland; a territory of Norway. Official name: Svalbard.

Synonyms

• Spitsbergen, Spitzbergen (both dated)
• Greenland (obsolete)

Derived terms

• Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
• Svalbard reindeer
• Svalbardian

Translations

islands north east of Greenland

• Arabic: سْفَالْبَارْد‎ m (sfalbard)
• Belarusian: Шпіцбе́рген m (Špicbjérhjen), Шпіцбэ́рген m (Špicbérhjen) (taraškievica)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 斯瓦爾巴, 斯瓦尔巴 (Sīwǎ'ěrbā)

• Czech: Špicberky (cs) pl
• Danish: Svalbard
• Dutch: Spitsbergen (nl) n
• Esperanto: Svalbardo
• Faroese: Svalbarð n
• Finnish: Huippuvuoret (fi) pl, Svalbard (fi)
• French: Svalbard (fr) m
• Georgian: შპიცბერგენი (šṗicbergeni), სვალბარდი (svalbardi)
• German: Spitzbergen (de) n (remains predominant); Svalbard n (chiefly official)
• Greek: Σφάλμπαρ m (Sfálmpar), Σβάλμπαρντ m (Sválmparnt)

• Icelandic: Svalbarði m
• Italian: Svalbard
• Japanese: スバールバル (Subārubaru), スヴァールバル諸島 (Suvārubaru shotō)
• Korean: 스발바르 (Seubalbareu)
• Latin: Svalbardum
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Svalbard

  Nynorsk: Svalbard

• Polish: Svalbard (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: Svalbard f
• Romanian: Svalbard n
• Russian: Сва́льбард m (Sválʹbard), Шпицбе́рген (ru) m (Špicbérgen)
• Slovak: Špicbergy m pl
• Spanish: Svalbard m
• Swedish: Svalbard (sv)
• Turkish: Svalbard (tr)

References

• “Svalbard”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.

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German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsvaːlˌbart/, [ˈsʋaːlˌbaʁt], [-ˌbaɐ̯t], [-ˌbaːt]

Proper noun

Svalbard n (proper noun, genitive Svalbards or (optionally with an article) Svalbard)

1. (especially official use) Svalbard (an archipelago in the far north of Norway)

   Synonym: (remains predominant) Spitzbergen

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse Svalbarði, see the the English entry.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsvɑ̂ːɫbɑr/

Proper noun

Svalbard

1. Svalbard (a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, to the north of Norway)

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse Svalbarði, see the the English entry.

Proper noun

Svalbard

1. Svalbard (as above)

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Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsfal.bart/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -albart
• Syllabification: Sval‧bard

Proper noun

Svalbard m

1. Svalbard (group of islands in the Arctic)

Declension

Declension of Svalbard

	singular
nominative	Svalbard
genitive	Svalbardu
dative	Svalbardowi
accusative	Svalbard
instrumental	Svalbardem
locative	Svalbardzie
vocative	Svalbardzie

Further reading

• Svalbard in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• Svalbard in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Portuguese

Proper noun

Svalbard f

1. Svalbard (an archipelago and territory of Norway in the Arctic Ocean)