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 *ud- (same meaning). Cognate with Dutch oer-, 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, vol. 54 no. 11:

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

Derived terms

► English words prefixed with ur-

Derived terms

• urelement
• ur-form
• ur-Hamlet

• Urheimat
• ur-myth
• ur-poem

• ur-speech
• urtext
• ur-text

Translations

forming words with the sense of 'primitive'

• Danish: ur-
• Dutch: oer- (nl)
• Esperanto: pra-
• German: ur- (de)

• Maltese: bu-, buż-
• Russian: пра- (ru) (pra-)
• Swedish: ur- (sv)

Anagrams

• Ru.

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Danish

Prefix

ur-

1. ur-, proto-

Derived terms

► Danish words prefixed with ur-

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German

Etymology

From Middle High German ur-, from Old High German ur-, ir- (“thoroughly”), from Old High German uz (“out of; proceeding from”) (modern aus, English out).

Pronunciation

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

• Audio

  (file)

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”)

4. (in some old inherited nouns) Alternative form of er-

Derived terms

► German words prefixed with ur-

Derived terms

• Uralt
• Urfaust

• Urkirche

• Urmonotheismus

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Gothic

Romanization

ur-

1. Romanization of 𐌿𐍂-

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Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish er. Akin to ar.

Prefix

ur-

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

Derived terms

► Irish words prefixed with ur-

See also

• an-
• ro-

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Eclipsis	with h-prothesis	with t-prothesis
ur-	n-ur-	hur-	t-ur-
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• "ur-" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.

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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 words prefixed with ur-

• “ur-” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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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 words prefixed with ur-

• “ur-” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Old High German

Prefix

ur-

1. thoroughly

Descendants

• German: ur-
• Yiddish: אור־‎ (ur-)