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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

ur- en · X

Pronunciation

  • /ʊə/ (UK)
  • /ɝ/ (US)
  • /ʊɹ/ (US)
  • /ɜː/ (UK)

Etymology

Contrary to popular belief, not derived from the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur being one of the first cities. From German ur-, from Middle High German ur-, from Old High German ur- (“out; without”), from Proto-West Germanic *uʀ-, from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out”), from Proto-Indo-European *uds- (“up, out”), from Proto-Indo-European *úd (“upwards, away, out, outwards”). Doublet of a- and or-, which is no longer productive (fossilized in e.g. ordeal). Cognate also with Dutch oer- and Dutch oor-.

Meanings

  1. (morpheme) Forming words with the sense of “proto-, primitive, original”.
    • 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. 2003, John Adcox, 'Can Fantasy be Myth? Mythopoeia and The Lord of the Rings', The Newsletter of the Mythic Imagination Institutehttp://www.mythicjourneys.org/passages/septoct2003/newsletterp8.html
    • Lebanon ultimately remains hostage to the regional ur-conflict over Palestine. 2007, Max Rodenbeck, ‘Lebanon's Agony’, New York Review of Books, volume 54, number 11:

Coordinates

archo- · eteo- · archi- · arch-

Deriveds

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

Relateds

urheimat · Urheimat

Translations (14)

pl pra- (forming words with the sense of 'primitive') · sv ur- (forming words with the sense of 'primitive') · da ur- (forming words with the sense of 'primitive') · hu ős- (forming words with the sense of 'primitive') · fo frum- (forming words with the sense of 'primitive') · fi alku- (forming words with the sense of 'primitive') · mt bu- (forming words with the sense of 'primitive') · io pre- (forming words with the sense of 'primitive') · de ur- (forming words with the sense of 'primitive') · sl pra- (forming words with the sense of 'primitive') · nl oer- (forming words with the sense of 'primitive') · mt buż- (forming words with the sense of 'primitive') · eo pra- (forming words with the sense of 'primitive') · ru пра- (forming words with the sense of 'primitive')