heur

Dutch

Etymology

Variant found in some dialects, especially that of Groningen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɦøːr/

• Audio:

  (file)

Determiner

heur (archaic or dialectal, now usually poetic or humorous)

1. alternative form of haar (“her [own], of her”, third-person singular feminine possessive determiner)

   heur weelderig haar ― her luxuriant hair

Usage notes

• As in the example above, it has been used in Standard Dutch chiefly to avoid the phrase haar haar (“her hair”). However, this avoidance is no longer common; when still applied today, it is typically tongue-in-cheek.

Further reading

• De Nieuwe Taalgids, jaargang 21, 1927
• Onze Taal: Heur haar / haar haar

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French eür~aür, from Latin augurium. Doublet of augure, which was borrowed from Latin. The non-etymological ⟨h⟩ is due to association with heure (“hour, time”).

Pronunciation

• ^{(mute h)} IPA^(key): /œʁ/
• Rhymes: -œʁ
• Homophones: Eure, heure, heures, heurs, heurt, heurts

Noun

heur m (plural heurs)

1. (dated, literary, now rare) hap, chance, fortune
   • 1640, Pierre Corneille, Horace, act I, scene I:

     Sa joie éclatera dans l'heur de ses enfants

     She will shine with joy in the fortune of her children

Derived terms

• avoir l'heur de
• bonheur
• heureux
• malheur

References

• “heur”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• huer, hure