# An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/U (full text)

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U.
übel, adjective, ‘evil, bad, wrong; sick,’ from Middle High German übel, Old High German ubil, ‘bad, wicked’; a common Teutonic adjective corresponding to Old Saxon uƀil, Dutch euvel. Anglo-Saxon yfel, English evil, Gothic ubils, ‘bad.’ With these are connected Old High German uppi (from Teutonic ubjo-), ‘vicious, malignant; villain,’ as well as the cognates of Modern High German üppig. The word has been supposed to be related to the preposition über (Aryan upérî), so that Teutonic uƀilo-, from upelo-, meant literally ‘that which oversteps a limit or is contrary to rule.’ Nothing positive, however, can be asserted, since the word is specifically Teutonic; or is Old Irish uall, ‘pride,’ cognate?.
üben, verb, ‘to practise, exercise,’ from Middle High German üeben, Old High German uoben (from *ôbjan), weak verb, ‘to set agoing, execute, venerate,’ corresponding to Old Saxon ôƀian, ‘to celebrate,’ Dutch oefenen, ‘to exercise, look after,’ Ofc. œ́fa, ‘to practise.’ Allied to Old High German uoba, ‘celebration,’ uobo, ‘tiller of the soil.’ The Teutonic root ôb, ‘to execute,’ contained in these cognates, seems to have been originally used of tilling the ground and of religious acts. To this corresponds, according to the permutation of consonants, the Aryan root ō̆p, with which are allied Sanscrit ā̆pas, neuter, ‘work’ (especially religions work), and Latin ŏpus, neuter, ‘work’ (connected with ŏperari, especially, ‘to sacrifice’).
über, preposition and adverb, ‘over, above,’ from the equivalent Middle High German über; Old High German ûbir, ubar, is a preposition with the adverbial form ubiri. Corresponding to Old Saxon oƀar, Dutch and English over, Anglo-Saxon ofer, Old Icelandic yfer, Gothic ufar, ‘over.’ This common Teutonic word is based on an equivalent Aryan upéri, which appears in Sanscrit upari, Greek ὑπέρ (ὑπείρ), Latin super. With these are connected the preposition auf, and ob (ober). Compare also übel.
Überdruß, see verdrießen. —
überflüssig, adjective, ‘superfluous,’ from Middle High German übervlüȥȥec, ‘overflowlng, superabundant, remaining.’ —
überhaupt, adverb, ‘in general, on the whole,’ from late Middle High German über houbet, ‘without counting the pieces, whole, all’ (properly only of buying goods; Middle High German houbet is frequently used to designate a number of men or beasts).
überwinden, verb, ‘to wind over; overcome, conquer,’ from Middle High German überwinden, Old High German ubarwintan, strong verb, ‘to excel, overpower, conquer’; also with an equivalent meaning Middle High German überwinnen, Old High German ubarwinnan. While the simple Old High German verb wintan means ‘to turn, turn round,’ Old High German winnan (compare Anglo-Saxon oferwinnan) has the signification ‘to contend, quarrel’ (compare gewinnen), which appears in the compound. The t, winch properly belongs only to the present stem in this sense, is the samne as in Old High German stantan, swintan (see stehen, schwinden).
übrig, adjective, ‘lest over, remaining,’ from Middle High German überic (g), ‘left over, excessive, exaggerated, superfluous’; a Middle High German derivative of über.
Ufer, neuter, ‘shore, bank (of a river),’ a Middle German and Low German word (adopted like Boot, Strand, &c., in the written language), from the equivalent Middle High German uover, neuter. Old High German *uofar (Gothic *ôfr?) is wanting; nor is the word known even now to the Upper German dialects. Compare Middle Low German ôver, Dutch oever, Anglo-Saxon ôfer (obsolete in English; yet Windsor is equivalent to Anglo-Saxon Windles ôfer, ‘the bank of the Windel’). West Teutonic ôfor has been considered, probably without reason, a cognate of Sanscrit ap, ‘water’ (for the evolution of meaning compare Au), and Latin amnis (for *apnis?), ‘river.’ Upper German (Bavarian) urvar, ‘haven, landing-place, bank,’ of the Middle High German period, points rather to a Gothic *us-far, ‘haven’; Gothic-Teutonic uz appears in some West Teutonic dialects as ô (Old High German uo). Hence Ufer is literally ‘departure, setting out’?.
Uhr, feminine, ‘clock, watch, hour,’ Modern High German only, from Low German ûr, ‘clock, hour’ (even in the Middle High German period LRhen. ûr meant ‘hour’); corresponding to Dutch uur, English hour. Based on Latin hôra (compare French heure, Italian ora).
Uhu, masculine, ‘horned owl,’ Modern High German only, a recent onomatopoetic word, which was connected with Middle High German hûwe, Old High German hûwo, Old Low German hûo, ‘owl.’
ulken, verb, ‘to lark,’ Modern High German only; allied to LRhen. ulk, ‘bulb’?. Compare Dutch ui, ‘onion, joke.’
Ulme, feminine, ‘elm,’ from Middle High German (rare) ulmboum, for which Middle High German and Old High German ëlmboum, masculine, is most frequently found. While ulm- is adopted from Latin ulmus, the equivalent Old High German and Middle High German ëlm- is related prehistorically, by gradation, with Latin ulmus; so too Old Icelandic almr, English elm. With the ​pre-Teutonic stem el, ol, the cognates of Modern High German Erle (Eller) are also connected.
um, adverb and preposition ‘about, around,’ from the equivalent Middle High German umbe (ümbe), Old High German umbi, cannot be regarded as directly corresponding to Greek ἀμφί, Sanscrit abhi, ‘about,’ for then the Old High German form would be umb. Old High German unbi is rather a compound of this *umb, with the preposition bī̆, ‘by’; so too Old Saxon umbi, Anglo-Saxon ymbe (but ymb directly corresponds to Sanscrit abhi). —
umsonst, adverb, ‘in vain, to no purpose,’ from the equivalent Middle High German umbe sus. See sonst.
un-, prefix, ‘not,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German un-; a negative prefix common to Teutonic and Aryan; compare Old Saxon un-, Dutch on-, Anglo-Saxon and English un-, Old Icelandic ó-. Corresponding to Greek ἀ-, Latin in-, Sanscrit and Zend a-, an-. With this prefix is connected the common Aryan negation nē̆, ‘not’ (see nicht), as well as the preposition ohne and its cognates.
Unbill, feminine, ‘iniquity, wrong,’ Middle High German only; based on the cognates of billig, instead of the correct Modern High German Unbilde, feminine, Middle High German unbilde, neuter, ‘wrong, impropriety,’ which is properly an abstract from Middle High German (rare) unbil (usually unbillîch), adjective, ‘incongruous, unjust.’ On account of the meaning there is probably no direct historic connection with Bild. Compare billig, and especially Weichbild.
und, conjunction, ‘and,’ from the equivalent Middle High German unt, unde, Old High German unta, unti (inti, enti); corresponding to Old Saxon ęndi, Dutch en, Anglo-Saxon and English and. Sanscrit útha, ‘also, further, and,’ points, like Anglo-Saxon and English and, to Aryan nthá.
Unflat, masculine, ‘filth, dirt,’ from Middle High German un-vlât, masculine, neuter, and feminine, ‘dirtiness, untidiness’; to which is allied unflätig, adjective ‘filthy, nasty,’ from Middle High German unvlœtic, ‘unclean, untidy.’ Old High German *flât, ‘beauty,’ is met with only in female proper names (Sigi-, Muot-, Hruoī̆-flât). The early history of Old High German *flât (Gothic flêd, Anglo-Saxon flœ̂d in proper names) is obscure.
ungefähr, see ohngefähr.
ungeheuer, adjective, ‘monstrous, atrocious,’ from Middle High German ungehiure, Old High German ungihiuri, ‘uncanny, frightful’; allied to Angeheuer, neuter, ‘monster,’ from Middle High German ungehiure, ‘savage, dragon, ghostly creature,’ Old High German ungihiurì, ‘monster.’ See geheuer.
ungeschlacht, see geschlacht.
ungestüm, adjective, ‘blustering, impetuous,’ from Middle High German ungestüeme, Old High German ungistuomi (unstuom), adjective, ‘stormy, impetuous’; the unnegatived form of the adjective was extremely rare in Old High German and Middle High German. Based on a verbal root stam, as in Middle High German stęmen (Modern High German stemmen, from *stamjan), ‘to check, restrain,’ which appears also in Modern High German stammeln. —
Ungetüm, neuter, ‘monster,’ early Modern High German only; unknown to the older periods. Early history obscure.
Ungeziefer, neuter, ‘vermin,’ from the equivalent late Middle High German ungezī̆bere, unzī̆ver, neuter; properly ‘unclean beast not suited for sacrifice.’ It is based, in fact, on Old High German ‘zëbar, ‘beast of offering,’ which is connected with the equivalent Anglo-Saxon tîfer. The terms borrowed in Romance, Old French toivre, ‘cattle,’ Portug. zebro, ‘ox, cow,’ prove that zëbar was applied to large animals, and that the word was widely diffused in Old Teutonic.
Unke, feminine, ‘ringed snake,’ Modern High German only; in Middle High German ûche (Old High German ûhha), feminine, ‘toad’; Middle High German and Old High German unc, masculine, ‘snake.’ Probably the Modern High German word is due to a combination of the older forms.
unlängst, adverb, ‘recently, of late,’ from Middle High German unlanges (unlange), ‘short time,’ with an excrescent t as in Obst, Art.
Unrat, masculine, ‘trash, rubbish, refuse,’ from Middle High German and Old High German unrât, masculine, ‘helplessness, want, necessity, useless stuff’; allied to Rat.
uns, pronoun, ‘us, to us,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German uns, in the same form common to Teutonic to supplement the declension of wir. Compare Dutch ons, Old Low German and Anglo-Saxon âs (English us), Gothic uns. This uns (from ns) is certainly connected with Latin nos (noster), Greek ἡμεῖς (for *ἀσ-μεῖς), and Sanscrit nas, ‘us’; compare wir. — Allied to unser, possessive pronoun, ‘our,’ from Middle High German unser, Old High German unsêr, The detailed history of the prenom. stem belongs to grammar.
Unschlitt, Inschlitt (Inselt), neuter, ‘suet, tallow,’ from Middle High German unslit (unselt), inslit (inselt), neuter, ‘tallow,’ of which there are abundant variants in Middle High German. Compare Old High German unslit, ‘fat, tallow’ (Anglo-Saxon unslid, or rather unflid, ‘fat, grease, tallow,’ is uncertain). Middle High German unsleht, ‘tallow’ (Rhenish-Franconian inschlicht), seems to be connected with Middle High German (in)geslehte, neuter, ‘entrails.’ The derivation of the word cannot be more definitely determined, since the older forms are unknown; Hessian and Low German ungel, ‘tallow,’ suggests the supposition that Old High German unslit has originated in *ungslit.
unten, adverb, ‘below, beneath, ​underneath,’ from the equivalent Middle High German unden, Old High German untanân. Allied to unter, preposition and adverb, ‘below, under,’ from Middle High German and Old High German unter, under, Old Low German untar (preposition); but untari, adverb; corresponding to Gothic and Old Saxon undar, Dutch onder, Anglo-Saxon and English under. The Aryan preposition ndhér, on which these are based, appears also in Latin infra (compare inferior) and Sanscrit adhás, ‘beneath’ (adhara, ‘the lower’).
Unterschleif, masculine, ‘embezzlement, smuggling,’ Modern High German only, allied to Middle High German undersliufœre, ‘cheat’; compare Middle High German undersliefen, ‘to cheat, deceive,’ underslouf, ‘hiding-place.’
unterthan, adjective ‘subject to, dependent,’ from the equivalent Middle High German undertân, Old High German untartân. Properly a participle of Middle High German undertuon, Old High German untartuon, ‘to subjugate, bring into subjection.’ See thun.
unterwegen, unterwegs, adverb, ‘on the way,’ from Middle High German under wëgen, ‘on the way, away.’
unwirsch, adjective, ‘cross, rude, morose,’ from Middle High German (rare) unwirs, usually unwirdesch, ‘unworthy, contemptuous, indignant, angry.’ Compare Middle High German unwërt, ‘despised, unsuited, disagreeable’; allied to wert. See also wirsch.
Unze, feminine, ‘ounce,’ from Middle High German unze, Old High German unza, feminine, ‘weight,’ from Latin uncia.
üppig, adjective, ‘luxurious, voluptuous, sumptuous,’ from Middle High German üppic (g), Old High German uppîg, ‘superfluous, useless, invalid, frivolous, arrogant.’ For the connection of this specifically High German word with Gothic ufjô, feminine, ‘superfluity,’ and Old High German uppi, ‘malicious,’ as well as with the cognates of übel and über, see übel.
Ur, see Auer-.
ur-, prefix, from Middle High German and Old High German ur-; an accented prefix of which er- (Middle High German er-, Old High German ir-) is the unaccented form. In Old High German, ur, ‘out of,’ is met with as a preposition The prefix signifies ‘out of, originally, in the beginning.’ Gothic has us (uz), of which there are no certain cognates in the other Aryan languages.
Urahn, masculine, ‘great-grandfather,’ from Middle High German urane; see Ahn. —
uralt, adjective, ‘extremely old, primeval,’ from the equivalent Middle High German and Old High German uralt; allied to alt. —
Urbar, neuter, ‘produce, landed property,’ from Middle High German urbor, urbar, feminine and neuter, ‘copyhold, rent, income’; literally perhaps ‘tax, produce, rent’ (compare Gothic gabaúr, ‘tax’). Hence urbar, adjective, ‘arable,’ literally ‘bearing interest, productive’ (Modern High German only). —
Urfehde, feminine, ‘solemn oath not to take vengeance on an enemy,’ from the equivalent Middle High German urvêhede (urvêhe), feminine; see Fehde. —
Urheber, masculine, ‘author, originator,’ a Modern High German derivative of Middle High German urhap (b), masculine, ‘beginning, cause, origin’ (allied to heben).
Urkunde, feminine, ‘deed, document, charter,’ from Middle High German urkunde (urkünde), neuter and feminine, ‘testimony, proof, document,’ Old High German urchundî, feminine, ‘testimony’; allied to erkennen (hence literally ‘recognition’). —
Urlaub, masculine, ‘leave of absence, furlough,’ from Middle High German and Old High German úrloup (b), masculine and neuter, ‘permission’; an abstract from erlauben, ‘to permit, Middle High German erlouben, Old High German irloubôn. —
Ursache, feminine, ‘cause,’ from Middle High German ursache. —
Ursprung, masculine, ‘source, origin,’ from Middle High German úrsprunc, úrsprinc (g), Old High German úrspring, masculine and neuter, ‘source’; allied to springen, (erspringen). —
Urtel, Urteil, neuter, ‘judgment, sentence, decision,’ from Middle High German urteil, urteile, feminine and neuter, ‘judicial decision’; allied to erteilen (literally ‘that which is imparted’). Compare Dutch oordeel, Anglo-Saxon ordâl, ‘judgment’ (whence French ordalie, ‘judgment of God,’ Middle Latin ordalium).
uzen, verb, ‘to jeer at, mock,’ Modern High German only; a derivative of the proper name Utz, an abbrev. form of Ulrich. Compare hänseln.