# 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 *úd (same meaning). Cognate with Dutch oer- and Dutch oor-, English or-.

### Pronunciation

* (UK) IPA: /ʊə/, /ɜː/
* (US) IPA: /ɝ/

### Prefix

ur-
* 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:
    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, volume 54, number 11:Lebanon ultimately remains hostage to the regional ur-conflict over Palestine.

#### Coordinate terms

* arch-, archi-, archo-, eteo-

#### Derived terms

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

#### Related terms

* Urheimat, urheimat

#### Translations
### References

* ↑ “Ur-”, in the Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, 1974 edition.

### Anagrams

* Ru.

## Bavarian
### Etymology

From Middle High German ur-, from Old High German ur-, ir- (“thoroughly”), from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /uɐ̯/, /uːɐ̯/
* Homophone: Uhr

### Prefix

ur-
* ur- (proto-, primitive, original)
    ‎ur- + ‎Woid (“forest”) → ‎Urwoid (“primeval forest”)
    ‎ur- + ‎Knoi (“bang”) → ‎Urknoi (“Big Bang”)
* great-; indicates an additional generation of separation between relatives
    ‎ur- + ‎Opa (“grandfather”) → ‎Uropa (“great-grandfather”)
    ‎ur- + ‎Großtant (“great-aunt”) → ‎Urgroßtant (“great-great-aunt”)
* (chiefly East Central Bavarian, Vienna) very; used to intensify adjectives
    ‎ur- + ‎oid (“old”) → ‎uroid (“ancient”)
    ‎ur- + ‎teier (“expensive”) → ‎urteier (“very expensive”)
    ‎ur- + ‎klaa (“small”) → ‎urklaa (“very small, tiny”)

#### Derived terms
## Danish
### Etymology

From German ur-.

### Prefix

ur-
* ur-, proto-

#### Derived terms
## German
### Etymology

From Middle High German ur-, from Old High German ur-, ir- (“thoroughly”), from Proto-West Germanic *uʀ-, from Proto-Germanic *uz- (“out”). Doublet of er-.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /uːɐ̯/, [ʔuːɐ̯] (standard)
* IPA: /ʊʁ/, [ʔʊɐ̯] (by a common merger)
* Audio:(file)

### Prefix

ur-
* ur- (proto-, primitive, original)
    ‎ur- + ‎Schrei (“scream”) → ‎Urschrei (“primal scream”)
    ‎ur- + ‎Wald (“forest”) → ‎Urwald (“primeval forest”)
* great-; indicates an additional generation of separation between relatives
    ‎ur- + ‎Opa (“grandfather”) → ‎Uropa (“great-grandfather”)
* (especially Austria) very; used to intensify adjectives
    ‎ur- + ‎alt (“old”) → ‎uralt (“ancient”)
    ‎ur- + ‎gemütlich (“cosy”) → ‎urgemütlich (“very cosy”)

#### Derived terms

* Urfaust
* Urmonotheismus

#### Descendants

* → English: ur-
* → Dutch: oer-

### References

* 1 2 “ur-” in the Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, 1974 edition.

## Gothic
### Romanization

ur-
* Romanization of 𐌿𐍂-

## Irish
### Etymology

From Old Irish air-, ur-. Akin to ar.

### Pronunciation

* (Munster, Connacht) IPA: /ʊɾˠ/
* (Ulster) IPA: /ʌɾˠ/

### Prefix

ur-
* before, ante-, pro-
* (intensifying) very
* Alternative form of for- (“over, superior, super-; outer, external; great, extreme”)

#### See also

* an-
* ro-

### Mutation

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

### Further reading

* Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “ur-”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
* Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “air-”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
* Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “ur-”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology

From German ur-.

### Prefix

ur-
* primeval, primordial, primitive, proto-
* first, original
* exceedingly, extremely, very (in adjectives)

### References

* “ur-” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology

From German ur-.

### Prefix

ur-
* primeval, primordial, primitive, proto-
* first, original
* exceedingly, extremely, very (in adjectives)

### References

* “ur-” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Old High German
### Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *uʀ-.

### Prefix

ur-
* thoroughly

#### Descendants

* Middle High German: ur-
** German: ur-
*** → English: ur-
*** → Dutch: oer-
** Yiddish: אור־ (ur-)

### References

* ↑ Ur-, in the Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, 1974 edition.

## Swedish
### Prefix

ur-
* aboriginal, primeval, proto-, original (with general connotations of old)
* (colloquial, intensifier) very, super-
    Synonyms: as-, gör-, jätte-, skit-, svin-, vrål-, bauta-, (usually negative) piss-
    Han är urgammalHe's super old
    Hon är urfånigShe's super silly

#### Usage notes

* Gives connotations of ancient when put before nouns. "Urhammaren" could be translated as "the ancient hammer" without further context.
* Can be put before virtually any adjective or adverb as an intensifier.

#### Derived terms

* urdjur (“Protozoa”)
* urinvånare (“indigenous people”)
* urskog (“primeval forest”)
* urusel (“godawful”)