うろ

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spelling
虚

First attested in the Soga Monogatari (c. 14th century).

Likely a shortening from 虚ろ (utsuro, “hollow place”).^[1]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) うろ [ùró] (Heiban – [0])^[1] ^[2]^[3]
IPA^(key): [ɯ̟ᵝɾo̞]

Noun

うろ • (uro)

虚: a hollow place

Descendants

→ Yaeyama: うる (uru, Taketomi dialect)

Etymology 2

Shift from おろ (oro, “insufficent”).^[4]

Affix

うろ • (uro)

somewhat insufficiently uncertain

Usage notes

Used in the compound うろ覚え (urooboe, “uncertain memory”).

Etymology 3

Abbreviation of 道路 (douro, “road”).^[5]

Noun

うろ • (uro)

(slang, used by criminals) a road

Etymology 4

For pronunciation and definitions of うろ – see the following entries.

【烏鷺】	[noun] crows and herons [noun] black and white [noun] (figurative) go (board game)

【雨露】	[noun] rain and dew [noun] (from land becoming wet due to rain and dew) a great fortune or grace

(This term, うろ, is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.)
For a list of all kanji read as うろ, see Category:Japanese kanji read as うろ.)

(The following entries are uncreated: 有漏, 迂路, 迂鹵.)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 “うろ【虚】”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”) ‎^[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here (Note: Dialectal meanings, etymological theories, pronunciation including modern, dialectal, and historical information, Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai, historical dictionaries containing this word, and the kanji spellings in those dictionaries have been omitted.)
The 語源説 (gogensetsu, “etymology theory”) section in the unabridged version says:
ウツロの中略か〔志不可起・俚言集覧・語簏・大言海〕。
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
^ “うろ”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”) ‎^[2] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here (Note: Dialectal meanings, etymological theories, pronunciation including modern, dialectal, and historical information, Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai, historical dictionaries containing this word, and the kanji spellings in those dictionaries have been omitted.)
^ “うろ”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”) ‎^[3] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here (Note: Dialectal meanings, etymological theories, pronunciation including modern, dialectal, and historical information, Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai, historical dictionaries containing this word, and the kanji spellings in those dictionaries have been omitted.)
The concise edition does not have this entry.

[KDJ2Oh-1] 1.0 ^1.1 “うろ【虚】”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”) ‎^[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here (Note: Dialectal meanings, etymological theories, pronunciation including modern, dialectal, and historical information, Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai, historical dictionaries containing this word, and the kanji spellings in those dictionaries have been omitted.)
The 語源説 (gogensetsu, “etymology theory”) section in the unabridged version says:
ウツロの中略か〔志不可起・俚言集覧・語簏・大言海〕。

[DJR-2] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-3] NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[KDJ2Osom-4] “うろ”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”) ‎^[2] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here (Note: Dialectal meanings, etymological theories, pronunciation including modern, dialectal, and historical information, Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai, historical dictionaries containing this word, and the kanji spellings in those dictionaries have been omitted.)

[KDJ2Odouro-5] “うろ”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”) ‎^[3] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here (Note: Dialectal meanings, etymological theories, pronunciation including modern, dialectal, and historical information, Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai, historical dictionaries containing this word, and the kanji spellings in those dictionaries have been omitted.)
The concise edition does not have this entry.

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