Varangian

//vəˈɹæn.d͡ʒi.ən// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A member of the ethnically Scandinavian people around the borders of Constantinople in the ninth and tenth centuries. historical
  2. 2
    A member of the imperial body guard at Constantinople from 955. historical

    "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’."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of or pertaining to the Varangians. not-comparable
  2. 2
    Of or pertaining to the Varanger Peninsula in Norway. not-comparable
  3. 3
    Pertaining to a period of intense glaciation during the late Proterozoic eon. not-comparable

Synonyms

All synonyms
varyagvaryag

Example

More examples

"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’."

Etymology

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.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.