ur-

¹

1. variant of uro- ¹:

   uranalysis.

ur-

²

1. variant of uro- ² before a vowel:

   urite.

ur-

³

(sometimes initial capital letter)

1. a combining form meaning “earliest, original,” used in words denoting the primal stage of a historical or cultural entity or phenomenon:

   ur-civilization; urtext.

Ur

⁴

[ ur, oor ]

noun

1. an ancient Sumerian city on the Euphrates, in S Iraq: extensive excavations, especially of royal tombs.

Ur

¹

/ ɜː /

noun

1. an ancient city of Sumer located on a former channel of the Euphrates

Ur-

²

combining_form

1. original, primitive

   Ursprache

UR

³

abbreviation for

1. you are
2. your

ur-

⁴

combining_form

1. a variant of uro- 1 uro- 2

Word History and Origins

Origin of ur-¹

< German ur-, Middle High German, Old High German; cognate with Old English or-

Word History and Origins

Origin of ur-¹

German

Example Sentences

Raye also posted a picture of a cake for her 27th birthday, which had been iced to say "sorry ur car got stolen".

From BBC

First single Kiss Ur Face Forever is a grunge-pop anthem to physical infatuation, while the follow-up Little Chaos is a frantic reflection of an unsettled mind.

From BBC

“I’m begging for ur help casey,” she wrote.

From Los Angeles Times

“His solo version is out now go get ur duis!!!” she wrote.

From Los Angeles Times

“Gracias for ur words,” Romo wrote back.

From Los Angeles Times

Words That Use ur-

What does ur- mean?

Ur- is a combining form used like a prefix that has two unrelated senses.

The first is “urine.” It is used occasionally in medical terms, especially in pathology. In some rare instances, like urate, ur- specifically denotes uric acid, a compound found in urine. This ur- comes from Greek oûron, meaning “urine.” Other combining forms that mean “urine,” such as urino- and urin-, come from the Latin for “urine,” ūrīn(a).

The second is “earliest” or “original.” It is frequently used or appendaged to a wide variety of terms. In some instances, it is stylized with a hyphen after the form, as in ur-fascism. Because the German language capitalizes nouns, the combining form ur- sometimes appears as Ur-, as in Urheimat. This ur- comes from Old High German ur-, meaning “thoroughly.”

Despite popular misconception, the name Uranus, a planet named for a Roman god, does not use the combining form ur- to mean “urine” or “earliest.” Discover more about the origins of this name at our entry for Uranus. The chemical compound uranium is also named after this figure from Greco-Roman mythology.

What are variants of ur-?

The “urine” sense of ur- are variants of uro-, which loses its -o- when combined with words or word elements beginning with vowels. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use uro- article.

Note that uro- can also mean “tail.” It is occasionally used in scientific terms, especially in anatomy and zoology. This uro- ultimately comes from Greek ourá, meaning “tail.”

Examples of ur- meaning “urine”

One example of a medical term that features the combining form ur- is uremia, “a condition resulting from the retention in the blood of constituents normally excreted in the urine.”

Ur- typically means “urine” in medical terms, while -emia denotes a blood condition; this latter form derives from Greek haîma, meaning “blood.” Uremia literally means “urine (in the) blood.”

What are some words that use the combining form ur-?

• uracil
• uremic
• uresis
• uric
• urodynia
• urosis

What are some other forms that ur- may be commonly confused with?

• ortho-
• urano-
• urico-
• utero-

Words that begin ure- do not always use ur- as a combining form to mean “urine.” Frequently, it is an abbreviation of urea, a chemical compound that occurs in urine. Find out more at our entry for urease.

Break it down!

The suffix -esis is used to denote an action or process. With this in mind, what is uresis?

Examples of ur- meaning “earliest”

One example of a term you may have encountered that features the combining form ur- to mean “original,” is urtext, “the original form of a text, especially of a musical composition.”

In this term, ur- means “original,” and, as you probably guessed, -text means “text.” Urtext literally translates to “original text.” A well-known example of an urtext is Ur-Hamlet, which is the title retroactively given to a lost urtext that may have influenced William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy.

What are some words that use the combining form ur-?

• ur-origin
• ur-stock
• urform
• urlanguage

What are some other forms that ur- may be commonly confused with?

• ortho-
• urano-
• urico-
• utero-

Not every word that begins with the exact letters ur-, such as urge or ursine, is necessarily using the combining forming ur- to denote “original.” Learn why ursine means “bearlike” at our entry for the word.

Break it down!

Researchers and anthropologists have long searched for the ur-language of human civilization. Keeping in mind the meaning of ur-, what is the ur-language?