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''Varangian'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260919121947-00-⌔

Varangian - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

Varangian (plural Varangians)

  • (historical) A member of the ethnically Scandinavian people around the borders of Constantinople in the ninth and tenth centuries.
    • ✤ Synonym: Varyag
  • (historical) A member of the imperial body guard at Constantinople from 955.
    • ✤ 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 ’.1

Adjective

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.

Etymology

Ultimately from Medieval Greek Βάραγγος (Bárangos), from Medieval Latin Varingus, from Old Norse væringr, 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

  • IPA: /vəˈɹæn.d͡ʒi.ən/
    • Audio (Southern England): 🔊
  • Hyphenation: Va‧ran‧gi‧an

Printed 2026-09-19.

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Footnotes

  1. 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 506: ↩