norwegian
n. C / Un. a person from Norway or the language spoken in that country.
n. a native or inhabitant of Norway, or the North Germanic language spoken primarily in that country.
She is a Norwegian who lives in Oslo.
The museum guide spoke perfect English, but she switched to Norwegian to help the local tourists.
While many Scandinavians can understand one another, a native Norwegian often finds it easier to comprehend written Danish and spoken Swedish than vice versa.
From Medieval Latin Norvegia (from Old Norse Norvegr (“Norway”)) + -an, with v replaced by w due to influence from earlier English Norwayan (“Norwegian”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
As a language, it is uncountable; as a demonym for a person, it is countable.
Last updated May 2, 2026