-ure

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English -ure,^[2][3] partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman -ure and Old French -ure, and partly borrowed from Latin -ūra.^{[4][5][6][7][3][2]} The Latin form was especially common in the longer endings -tūra and -sūra.^[6] It is cognate with Italian -ura, Spanish -ura and Portuguese -ura.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Latin suffix went on feminine nouns of employment or result,^[5] usually on the past participle stem.^[7] figūra is an exception, on a present stem.^[7] It primarily meant action or process, then a result, an office or a collective body.^[4][7]

Semantic evolution

English took many words from Old French, such as closure, feature, figure and pressure, and others directly from Latin, such as aperture and scripture.^[6][8] As the ending was active in French and Anglo-Norman, some English words have no Latin original.^[5] It was then added to English stems of Latin origin, as in composure, exposure and legislature.^[6] Several other French endings, -eure, -ir, -or and -our, were absorbed into it, giving leisure, pleasure, treasure and tenure.^[4][7][8]

Timeline

• c. 1275 – nature.^[4]
• 1384 – pressure.^[4]
• c. 1405 – closure.^[4]
• 1482 – seizure.^[4]
• 1643 – failure.^[4]

Meanings

Suffix

1. Forming nouns for an act, process or state of being: exposure, composure, seizure.^[3][9][6]
2. Forming nouns for an office or function: judicature, prefecture.^[3][9][8]
3. Forming nouns for a body that does something: legislature.^[3][9][8]

Word family

• culture
• measure
• nature
• picture
• structure

Related words

• uro-
• -or
• -ation
• -ment

Usage notes

A separate modern suffix in -ure names certain animals, as in conure and mastigure.^[4] It comes from French -ure and scientific Latin -urus, from Ancient Greek οὐρά (ourá, “tail”), and such words appear in English from the first half of the 19th century.^[4]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins