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• Ur
  Ur

  noun

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

  variant of uro-.
• UR
  UR

  abbreviation

  you are
• Ur-
  Ur-

  combining form

  original, primitive

Ur

¹ American  

[ur, oor] / ɜr, ʊər /

noun

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

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ur- ² American  

1. variant of uro-.

   uranalysis.

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ur- ³ American  

1. variant of uro- before a vowel.

   urite.

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ur- ⁴ American  

(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.

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UR ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. you are

2. your

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Ur ² British  

/ ɜː /

noun

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

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Ur- ³ British  

combining form

1. original, primitive

   Ursprache

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ur- ⁴ British  

combining form

1. a variant of uro- 1 uro- 2

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Usage

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.”

Etymology

Origin of ur-

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

Example Sentences

The court official said a warrant was out for the arrest of team manager Mujeeb Ur Rehman, a Pakistani national, who was also implicated in the case.

From Barron's • Jan. 28, 2026

The region's city-states -- Ur, Uruk, and Lagash among them -- developed complex political and religious systems that became the blueprint for later societies.

From Science Daily • Oct. 27, 2025

The director of Punjab’s Environment Protection Department, Syed Naseem Ur Rehman Shah, is proud of local achievements to fight air pollution.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 20, 2024

From the moment Mujeeb Ur Rahman spilled the second of those catches, neither Afghanistan's bowlers, nor back and cramp issues that left him collapsed in agony at times, could stop Maxwell.

From BBC • Nov. 7, 2023

From my pants pocket, my phone vibrated, and when I checked it William had sent me a text. “good movie. Ur mom mad?”

From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez