Varangian
English edit
Etymology edit
Ultimately from Byzantine Greek Βάραγγος (Bárangos), from Medieval Latin Varingus, from Old Norse væringi, from várr (“pledge”) or værr (“pledge”), which is cognate with Old English wǣr (“fidelity, loyalty”), + Old Norse gangi (“companion”). Cognate with Old English wærgenga.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
Varangian (plural Varangians)
- (historical) A member of the ethnically Scandinavian people around the borders of Constantinople in the ninth and tenth centuries.
- (historical) A member of the imperial body guard at Constantinople from 955.
- 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 506:
- The Byzantines continued to recruit elite warriors from the north, not merely from Rus’ but directly from far-off Scandinavia; from the end of the tenth century, they referred to them as ‘Varangians’.
Synonyms edit
Translations edit
member of the imperial body guard at Constantinople from 955
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Adjective edit
Varangian (not comparable)
- Of or pertaining to the Varangians.
- Of or pertaining to the Varanger Peninsula in Norway.
- (geology) Pertaining to a period of intense glaciation during the late Proterozoic eon.
Translations edit
of or pertaining to the Varangians
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References edit
- “Varangian”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.