Illustrated Etymology

1844, from berserk (n.) "Norse warrior," by 1835, an alternative form of berserker (1822), a word which was introduced by Sir Walter Scott, from O.N. berserkr (n.) "raging warrior of superhuman strength;" probably from *ber- "bear" + serkr "shirt," thus lit. "a warrior clothed in bearskin." Illustration: Adam R. Garcia

Designer Adam R. Garcia started this nifty project called Illustrated Etymology, where he invited artists to illustrate the history of words and their origins in graphical form.

Check it out: Link - via designworklife

Note that all words derive from much simpler origins in ancient language. This makes sense if one imagines language to be an evolving process. The first human to utter a word probably wanted to talk about the bear or tiger lurking in the woods and abstract conceptions about reality didn't enter into the fold until many centuries later when those same terms were adapted. A word like "Nature" comes from simpler words meaning "birth". It is then abstracted out to refer to all of reality. Or "universe" from unus "one" + versus, pp. of vertere "to turn". Ancient languages that lacked these forms of linguistic abstraction still relied on simpler-familial terms to relate to abstract intuitions about reality.