Varangian

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English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Etymology

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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

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  • IPA(key): /vəˈɹæn.d͡ʒi.ən/
  • Hyphenation: Va‧ran‧gi‧an

Noun

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Varangian (plural Varangians)

  1. (historical) A member of the ethnically Scandinavian people around the borders of Constantinople in the ninth and tenth centuries.
  2. (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

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Translations

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Adjective

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Varangian (not comparable)

  1. Of or pertaining to the Varangians.
  2. Of or pertaining to the Varanger Peninsula in Norway.
  3. (geology) Pertaining to a period of intense glaciation during the late Proterozoic eon.

Translations

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References

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