ur-

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ur"

English

Etymology

From German ur-, originally from Old High German ir-, ur- (“thoroughly”), from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out”), from Proto-Indo-European *uds- (“up, out”), from Proto-Indo-European *úd (same meaning). Cognate with Dutch oer- and Dutch oor-, English or-.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ʊə/, /ɜː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɝ/

Prefix

ur-

1. Forming words with the sense of “proto-, primitive, original”.
   • 2003, John Adcox, 'Can Fantasy be Myth? Mythopoeia and The Lord of the Rings', The Newsletter of the Mythic Imagination Institute[1]:

     Some stories reach deeper, into the most primal and profound truths. They mirror, in new and original ways, the Ur-myth, the act of creation itself.

   • 2007, Max Rodenbeck, ‘Lebanon's Agony’, New York Review of Books, volume 54, number 11:

     Lebanon ultimately remains hostage to the regional ur-conflict over Palestine.

Coordinate terms

• arch-, archi-, archo-, eteo-

Derived terms

English terms prefixed with ur-

ur-ancestor

urbilaterian

ur-continent

ur-cool

ur-culture

urelement

urkaryote

urfly

urform

Ur-Germanic

urgrund

ur-hero

ur-homeland

urinterpretation

urlanguage

urmetazoan

ur-mind

ur-myth

ur-ocean

ur-poem

ur-race

urreligion

ur-science

ur-source

urtext

ur-type

urheimat

ur-word

urword

• ur-ancestor
• ur-bird
• ur-continent
• ur-culture
• urelement
• ur-fascism
• urfly
• urfolk
• ur-form
• Ur-Germanic
• ur-Hamlet
• ur-hero
• ur-homeland
• ur-language
• ur-mind
• ur-myth
• ur-ocean
• ur-poem
• ur-race
• ur-science
• ur-source
• ur-speech
• urtext
• ur-type
• ur-vogel
• ur-word

Related terms

• Urheimat, urheimat

Translations

forming words with the sense of 'primitive'

• Danish: ur-
• Dutch: oer- (nl)
• Esperanto: pra- (eo)
• Faroese: frum-
• German: ur- (de)
• Hungarian: ős- (hu)
• Ido: pre-
• Maltese: bu-, buż-
• Russian: пра- (ru) (pra-)
• Slovene: pra-
• Swedish: ur- (sv)

Anagrams

• Ru.

Bavarian

Etymology

From Middle High German ur-, from Old High German ur-, ir- (“thoroughly”), from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uɐ̯/, /uːɐ̯/
• Homophone: Uhr

Prefix

ur-

1. ur- (proto-, primitive, original)

   ‎ur- + ‎Woid (“forest”) → ‎Urwoid (“primeval forest”)

   ‎ur- + ‎Knoi (“bang”) → ‎Urknoi (“Big Bang”)

2. great-; indicates an additional generation of separation between relatives

   ‎ur- + ‎Opa (“grandfather”) → ‎Uropa (“great-grandfather”)

   ‎ur- + ‎Großtant (“great-aunt”) → ‎Urgroßtant (“great-great-aunt”)

3. (chiefly East Central Bavarian, Vienna) very; used to intensify adjectives

   ‎ur- + ‎oid (“old”) → ‎uroid (“ancient”)

   ‎ur- + ‎teier (“expensive”) → ‎urteier (“very expensive”)

   ‎ur- + ‎klaa (“small”) → ‎urklaa (“very small, tiny”)

Derived terms

Bavarian terms prefixed with ur-

urblaad

urblad

urdeppert

urfad

urguad

urkla

urklaa

urkoid

uroid

urschiach

Ursåch

urteier

Danish

Etymology

From German ur-.

Prefix

ur-

1. ur-, proto-

Derived terms

Danish terms prefixed with ur-

urbefolkning

urgammel

urgermansk

urindoeuropæisk

urinsekt

urnordisk

ursuppe

urtid

German

Etymology

From Middle High German ur-, from Old High German ur-, ir- (“thoroughly”), from Proto-West Germanic *uʀ-, from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out”). Doublet of er-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uːɐ̯/, [ʔuːɐ̯] (standard)
• IPA^(key): /ʊʁ/, [ʔʊɐ̯] (by a common merger)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: Uhr (when standard and stressed)

Prefix

ur-

1. ur- (proto-, primitive, original)

   ‎ur- + ‎Schrei (“scream”) → ‎Urschrei (“primal scream”)

   ‎ur- + ‎Wald (“forest”) → ‎Urwald (“primeval forest”)

2. great-; indicates an additional generation of separation between relatives

   ‎ur- + ‎Opa (“grandfather”) → ‎Uropa (“great-grandfather”)

3. (especially Austria) very; used to intensify adjectives

   ‎ur- + ‎alt (“old”) → ‎uralt (“ancient”)

   ‎ur- + ‎gemütlich (“cosy”) → ‎urgemütlich (“very cosy”)

Derived terms

German terms prefixed with ur-

Urabstimmung

Urahn

uralt

uramerikanisch

Uraufführung

Urbevölkerung

Urbild

urcool

Ureinwohner

Urenkel

urgemütlich

Urgermanisch

urgermanisch

Urgeschichte

urgesellschaftlich

Urgroßeltern

Urgroßmutter

Urgroßvater

Urheimat

urig

Urinstinkt

Urknall

Urkontinent

Urmeer

Urmensch

Urmeter

Urmutter

Urnordisch

urnordisch

Uroma

Uropa

urplötzlich

Ursache

Ursatz

Urschleim

Urschrei

Urschrift

Urslawisch

urslawisch

Ursprache

Ursprung

Urstiftung

Urstromtal

Ursünde

Ursuppe

Urszene

Urtext

Urtier

Ururgroßeltern

Ururgroßmutter

Ururgroßvater

Urururgroßeltern

Urururgroßmutter

Urururgroßvater

Urvater

Urvertrauen

urverwandt

Urvogel

Urwald

urwüchsig

Urzeit

Urzustand

• Urfaust
• Urmonotheismus

Descendants

• → English: ur-
• → Dutch: oer-

Gothic

Romanization

ur-

1. Romanization of 𐌿𐍂-

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish air-, ur-. Akin to ar.

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Connacht) IPA^(key): /ʊɾˠ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /ʌɾˠ/

Prefix

ur-

1. before, ante-, pro-
2. (intensifying) very
3. Alternative form of for- (“over, superior, super-; outer, external; great, extreme”)

Derived terms

Irish terms prefixed with ur-

uraiceacht

urchoill

urchoisc

urchuil

uraigh

urú

urfhuascailt

urghabh

urghair

urghráiniúil

uiríseal

uirísligh

urlabhraí

urlabhairt

urlabhra

urlámhas

urlios

urnasctha

urnóta

uroighreach

urphost

urscaoil

urtheach

urtheilgeach

urtheilgean

urthimpeall

urthosach

urthrá

See also

• an-
• ro-

Mutation

Mutated forms of ur-

radical	eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
ur-	n-ur-	hur-	t-ur-

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “ur-”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “air-”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “ur-”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From German ur-.

Prefix

ur-

1. primeval, primordial, primitive, proto-
2. first, original
3. exceedingly, extremely, very (in adjectives)

References

Norwegian Bokmål terms prefixed with ur-

urbefolkning

urfolk

urgammel

urindoeuropeisk

• “ur-” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From German ur-.

Prefix

ur-

1. primeval, primordial, primitive, proto-
2. first, original
3. exceedingly, extremely, very (in adjectives)

References

Norwegian Nynorsk terms prefixed with ur-

urfolk

urindoeuropeisk

• “ur-” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *uʀ-.

Prefix

ur-

1. thoroughly

Descendants

• Middle High German: ur-
  • German: ur-
    • → English: ur-
    • → Dutch: oer-
  • Yiddish: אור־ (ur-)

Swedish

Prefix

ur-

1. aboriginal, primeval, proto-, original (with general connotations of old)
2. (colloquial, intensifier) very, super-

   Synonyms: as-, gör-, jätte-, skit-, svin-, vrål-, bauta-, (usually negative) piss-

   Han är urgammal

   He's super old

   Hon är urfånig

   She's super silly

Usage notes

• Gives connotations of ancient when put before nouns. "Urhammaren" could be translated as "the ancient hammer" without further context.
• Can be put before virtually any adjective or adverb as an intensifier.

Derived terms

• urdjur (“Protozoa”)
• urinvånare (“indigenous people”)
• urskog (“primeval forest”)
• urusel (“godawful”)