Skip to main content
Berliner

Berliner

11 5.5
A person who lives in or comes from Berlin, the capital of Germany
  • noun
  • /bərˈlɪnər/
translation icon : berlinés
  • East Berliners are overcome as they cross the border that has been closed to them for 28 years.
  • Berliners, too
  • East Berliners

Examples

  • I take pride in the words, "Ich bin ein Berliner!"

  • Clearly, some Berliners knew enough to know that it was better not to know.

    Academic text (2010)
  • - I could pass for a Berliner!

  • But the West Berliners were determined.

  • But today, 50 years later, Berliners still remember when the Allies saved their city.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • One day in May, I drove to the Baltic to meet the two Berliners.

    Academic text (2003)
  • It is the moment Berliners have waited 28 years for.

  • On May 12, 300,000 Berliners gathered to cheer the news that the blockade was being lifted.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Millions cheered in Berlin when President John F. Kennedy stood with them and said, "Ich bin ein Berliner."

    Academic text (2007)
  • Many Berliners enjoy visiting the historic Brandenburg Gate.

Compounds

A person who lived in West Berlin when Germany was divided

Surface Forms

Berliner singular
Berliners plural

Morphology

Berliner = Berlin (transparent) = Berlin + er

A regular demonym formed by adding '-er' to the place name 'Berlin', so the meaning 'person from Berlin' is directly predictable.

Etymology

Berliner comes from the city name Berlin plus the ending -er, which means 'person from' or 'one who lives in'. The name Berlin probably comes from an old Slavic word for 'swamp', a detail that can help you remember the place, but today Berliner simply means 'someone who lives in Berlin'.