urea

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁wers-der.

Ancient Greek οὐρέω (ouréō)

Ancient Greek οὖρον (oûron)der.

French uréeder.

New Latinder.

English urea

From New Latin, from French urée, from Ancient Greek οὖρον (oûron, “urine”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /jʊˈɹiːə/, /ˈjʊəɹɪə/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (Indic) IPA^(key): /ˈjurɪjɑ/, /jʊˈrɪjɑ/
• Rhymes: -iːə

Noun

urea (countable and uncountable, plural ureas)

1. (organic chemistry, biochemistry, uncountable) A water-soluble organic compound, CO(NH₂)₂, formed by the metabolism of proteins and excreted in the urine.
   • 2026 March 9, Sam Sifton, “The War’s Effect on the Supermarket”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN, archived from the original on 9 March 2026:

     Five of them — Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — supply more than a third of the world’s urea, an important nitrogen fertilizer, and nearly a quarter of another one, ammonia. […] Over the past week, the price of urea sold in Egypt, a market that economists track closely, climbed more than 35 percent.

2. (organic chemistry, countable) Any N-substituted derivative of urea, with the general formula (R₁R₂N)CO(NR₃R₄).

Synonyms

• carbamide

Derived terms

• alkylurea
• alpha-naphthylthiourea
• bisurea
• bromerguride
• bromovalerylurea
• carbamylurea
• carburazepam
• diallylurea
• dicyclohexylurea
• dimethylurea
• diphenylurea
• glibornuride
• glyburide
• glycolylurea
• hydroxyurea
• imidazolidinyl urea
• isourea
• malonylurea
• methylol urea
• nitrosoethylurea
• nitrosourea
• nitrourea
• nonurea
• oligourea
• phenylthiourea
• polyurea
• pseudourea
• selenourea
• sulfonylurea
• sulfourea
• suramin
• tetramethylurea
• thiourea
• triurea
• uraemia
• urea cycle
• urea-formaldehyde
• ureagenesis
• ureal
• urealytic
• ureameter
• ureametry
• urease
• ureic
• ureido-
• uremia

Translations

organic compound

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Azerbaijani: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: карбамид (karbamid)
• Catalan: urea f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 尿素 (niu⁶ sou³)

  Mandarin: 尿素 (zh) (niàosù)

• Czech: urea (cs) f, močovina (cs) f, karbamid m
• Danish: urea c, urinstof (da) n
• Dutch: ureum (nl) n
• Esperanto: ureo (eo)
• Finnish: virtsa-aine (fi), urea (fi)
• French: urée (fr) f
• German: Harnstoff (de) m
• Greek: ουρία (el) f (ouría)
• Hebrew: שתנן m (shitnán)
• Irish: úiré f
• Italian: urea (it) f
• Japanese: 尿素 (ja) (にょうそ, nyōso)
• Kazakh: несепнәр (nesepnär)
• Korean: 요소(尿素) (ko) (yoso)
• Māori: matū mimi
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: urea, urinstoff n

  Nynorsk: urea, urinstoff n

• Polish: mocznik (pl) m
• Portuguese: ureia (pt) f
• Russian: мочеви́на (ru) f (močevína)
• Serbo-Croatian: mòkraćevina f, urea (sh) f, urèa (sh) f
• Slovene: sečnína f
• Spanish: urea (es) f
• Swedish: urinämne (sv) n, urea (sv) c, karbamid (sv) c
• Turkish: üre (tr)

derivative

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 脲 (niu⁶)

  Mandarin: 脲 (zh) (niào)

• Hungarian: karbamid (hu)

See also

• biuret

Further reading

• David Barthelmy (1997–2026), “Urea”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “urea”, in Mindat.org, Keswick, Va.: Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2026.

Anagrams

• Auer, eaur

Finnish

Etymology

Internationalism (see English urea), ultimately from New Latin urea.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈureɑ/, [ˈure̞ɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -ureɑ
• Syllabification^(key): u‧re‧a
• Hyphenation^(key): urea

Noun

urea

1. urea

Declension

Inflection of urea (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation)
nominative		urea	ureat
genitive		urean	ureoiden ureoitten
partitive		ureaa	ureoita
illative		ureaan	ureoihin
		singular	plural
nominative		urea	ureat
accusative	nom.	urea	ureat
	gen.	urean
genitive		urean	ureoiden ureoitten ureain rare
partitive		ureaa	ureoita
inessive		ureassa	ureoissa
elative		ureasta	ureoista
illative		ureaan	ureoihin
adessive		urealla	ureoilla
ablative		urealta	ureoilta
allative		urealle	ureoille
essive		ureana	ureoina
translative		ureaksi	ureoiksi
abessive		ureatta	ureoitta
instructive		—	ureoin
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of urea (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative ureani ureani accusative nom. ureani ureani gen. ureani genitive ureani ureoideni ureoitteni ureaini rare partitive ureaani ureoitani inessive ureassani ureoissani elative ureastani ureoistani illative ureaani ureoihini adessive ureallani ureoillani ablative urealtani ureoiltani allative urealleni ureoilleni essive ureanani ureoinani translative ureakseni ureoikseni abessive ureattani ureoittani instructive — — comitative — ureoineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative ureasi ureasi accusative nom. ureasi ureasi gen. ureasi genitive ureasi ureoidesi ureoittesi ureaisi rare partitive ureaasi ureoitasi inessive ureassasi ureoissasi elative ureastasi ureoistasi illative ureaasi ureoihisi adessive ureallasi ureoillasi ablative urealtasi ureoiltasi allative ureallesi ureoillesi essive ureanasi ureoinasi translative ureaksesi ureoiksesi abessive ureattasi ureoittasi instructive — — comitative — ureoinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative ureamme ureamme accusative nom. ureamme ureamme gen. ureamme genitive ureamme ureoidemme ureoittemme ureaimme rare partitive ureaamme ureoitamme inessive ureassamme ureoissamme elative ureastamme ureoistamme illative ureaamme ureoihimme adessive ureallamme ureoillamme ablative urealtamme ureoiltamme allative ureallemme ureoillemme essive ureanamme ureoinamme translative ureaksemme ureoiksemme abessive ureattamme ureoittamme instructive — — comitative — ureoinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative ureanne ureanne accusative nom. ureanne ureanne gen. ureanne genitive ureanne ureoidenne ureoittenne ureainne rare partitive ureaanne ureoitanne inessive ureassanne ureoissanne elative ureastanne ureoistanne illative ureaanne ureoihinne adessive ureallanne ureoillanne ablative urealtanne ureoiltanne allative ureallenne ureoillenne essive ureananne ureoinanne translative ureaksenne ureoiksenne abessive ureattanne ureoittanne instructive — — comitative — ureoinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative ureansa ureansa accusative nom. ureansa ureansa gen. ureansa genitive ureansa ureoidensa ureoittensa ureainsa rare partitive ureaansa ureoitaan ureoitansa inessive ureassaan ureassansa ureoissaan ureoissansa elative ureastaan ureastansa ureoistaan ureoistansa illative ureaansa ureoihinsa adessive ureallaan ureallansa ureoillaan ureoillansa ablative urealtaan urealtansa ureoiltaan ureoiltansa allative urealleen ureallensa ureoilleen ureoillensa essive ureanaan ureanansa ureoinaan ureoinansa translative ureakseen ureaksensa ureoikseen ureoiksensa abessive ureattaan ureattansa ureoittaan ureoittansa instructive — — comitative — ureoineen ureoinensa

Synonyms

• virtsa-aine

Further reading

• “urea”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 4 July 2023

Anagrams

• Eura, auer

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uˈrɛ.a/
  • Rhymes: -ɛa
  • Hyphenation: u‧rè‧a
• IPA^(key): /ˈu.re.a/
  • Rhymes: -urea
  • Hyphenation: ù‧re‧a

Noun

urea f (plural uree)

1. urea

Derived terms

• poliurea
• ureico

Anagrams

• aure

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From French urée, from Ancient Greek οὖρον (oûron, “urine”).

Noun

urea (indeclinable)

1. (uncountable) urea, carbamide

Synonyms

• karbamid
• urinstoff

References

• “urea” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From French urée, from Ancient Greek οὖρον (oûron, “urine”).

Noun

urea (indeclinable)

1. (uncountable) urea, carbamide

Synonyms

• karbamid
• urinstoff

References

• “urea” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uˈɾea/ [uˈɾe.a]
• Rhymes: -ea
• Syllabification: u‧re‧a

Noun

urea f (plural ureas)

1. urea (organic compound)

Further reading

• “urea”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swahili

Etymology

Borrowed from English urea.

Noun

urea class IX (plural urea class X)

1. urea

Swedish

Noun

urea c

1. urea

   Synonyms: urinämne, karbamid

Usage notes

Called karbamid in skincare products.

Declension

Declension of urea

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	urea	ureas
	definite	urean	ureans
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

References

• “urea”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “urea”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “urea”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• Svensk MeSH