Etymologically
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urinary

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 23:18. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈjʊəɹɪn(ə)ɹi/[1]
  • US: /ˈjʊɹɪˌnɛɹi/, /ˈjɝɹɪˌnɛɹi/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin ūrīnārius,[2][3][4][5] formed from ūrīna (“urine”) and the suffix -ārius;[2][5] the OED takes it as an unrecorded medieval Latin form, also the source of Italian urinario, Spanish urinario and French urinaire.[6] Klein notes that it corresponds in sense to the Classical Latin ūrīnālis (“relating to urine”).[5] The Shorter Oxford instead treats it as formed in English from urine and -ary.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Allowing the passage of urine, or taking part in producing and discharging it: 1578, in Banister's Historie of Man.[6][2] Etymonline dates it to the 1570s.[4]

Semantic evolution

The adjective began as an anatomical term for the passages and organs that make and discharge urine.[6][7] From 1646, in Browne, it was also used of what is of the nature of urine or excreted as urine;[6][7] Johnson (1755) defined it simply as relating to the urine and quoted Browne.[8] In the late 18th century it was applied to things lodged or formed in the urinary organs, such as stones (1797), and in the early 19th to vessels for receiving urine (1822) and to whatever affects the urinary system.[6][7] A noun urinary, a urinal, is recorded from 1836.[6]

Timeline

  • 1578 – affording passage to, or helping to secrete and discharge, urine.[6][2]
  • 1646 – of the nature of urine; excreted as urine.[6]
  • 1688 – adapted for use on the urinary passage.[6]
  • 1797 – lodged or formed in the urinary organs; excreted in the urine.[6]
  • 1822 – of or occurring in the urinary system; adapted for receiving urine.[6]
  • 1836 – noun, a urinal.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of or relating to urine, its production or its excretion.[9][10][11][2]
  2. Of or relating to the organs that form and discharge urine, such as the kidneys and bladder: a urinary tract infection.[9][10][11][2]
  3. Excreted as urine or in urine.[2][6]

Noun

  1. A urinal.[2][11][6]
  2. A reservoir for collecting urine.[11]

Word family

  • genitourinary
  • urinary bladder
  • urinary tract
  • urinary tract infection
  • urology
  • urine
  • urinal
  • urinate

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  4. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  10. ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins