Etymologically
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úr

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Pronunciation

Forms

úr (plural urak)[1] The stem vowel is short before most endings: urat, ura, urak; before some case endings both úrral and urral are heard.[2][1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.[3][4][5] ÚESz and Zaicz put a Turkic explanation first: the word would be borrowed from Bulgar *urï (“lord, gentleman”), borrowed before the Hungarian conquest.[3][4][6] They connect it with Old Turkic urï (“young man”) and with other Turkic words meaning “seed, offspring” or “boy”, perhaps from a verb Proto-Turkic *ur- (“to beget”); the form taken over would have meant “offspring, kinsman”, and the sense would have gone from “seed” through “son, heir” to “man of property”, since heirs were first of all the upper class.[3][4] Wiktionary instead names Proto-Turkic *ūŕ (“master, craftsman”).[1]

The second explanation makes it an inherited Finno-Ugric word, from Proto-Uralic *urɜ (“male animal; man”), with the cognates Finnish uros (“man, hero; male animal”), urho (“hero”) and Northern Sami vârres (“male animal”).[3][4][7][1] The Finnish -s is a suffix and the Sami ⟨v-⟩ a later addition; the sense would have developed from “male” to “man”, then “prince” and “lord”.[8][5] TESz, which treats the word as of uncertain origin, gives this view as possible, but all the sources call it weak, since the cognates are only in the distant Finnic and Sami languages.[5][3][8]

An Iranian origin is rejected.[5][3] Budenz compared Khanty urt (“lord, nobleman”), a comparison Bárczi did not find convincing.[9][10] The noun ország “country” comes from Old Hungarian uruszág (“lordship”), a derivative of this word.[8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the place name Hurhyda in a charter dated 1002; ÚESz dates the text to 1009, TESz knows it from a copy of 1257.[3][5] The word appears in the place name Kerestur in 1075 and in the Funeral Sermon and Prayer of about 1195: Wimagguc uromc isten kegilmet ez lelic ert, “Let us pray to our Lord God's mercy for this soul”.[5][3][8] The earliest sense, in the place names, is “holder of power and wealth”.[5][3]

Semantic evolution

The early records name people high in the social order: a holder of power and wealth (1002/1009), a ruler (in a Greek text of 1180–1183), God or Christ (about 1195).[5][3] Bárczi thought the old sense was “royal prince, heir”, and earlier perhaps the title of the ruling prince himself.[10]

“Husband” appears before 1495 in the Guary Codex, and “power, ruling force” in 1527.[5][3] Kiss notes that uram “my husband” is not shortened from férjemuram, which is no older, and that Slavic words for “lord” went the same way; the sense is now dying out.[11] Like other titles, the word lost value with time and came to be used of any gentleman, as asszony and tekintetes did.[5][3][4]

The derivatives are early: urad “little lord” in the Old Hungarian Lament of Mary, uraság in a name of 1138 and as a noun about 1405, uralkodó about 1448, uralkodik about 1450, ural in 1527, urizál in 1708–1710, uradalom in 1786, and the language-reform uralom in 1841.[3][4][5] Neighbouring languages took the possessive uram “my lord” as a form of address: Slovak records it from 1558.[12]

Timeline

  • 1009 – Hurhyda, a place name, in a charter dated 1002 (TESz: copy of 1257).[3][5]
  • 1075 – Kerestur, a place name.[5][3]
  • 1138 – uraság in a personal name (copy of 1329).[5][3]
  • 1180–1183 – “ruler”, in a Greek text.[5][3]
  • c. 1195 – uromc “our Lord” in the Funeral Sermon and Prayer.[5][3]
  • c. 1300 – urodum “my little lord” in the Old Hungarian Lament of Mary.[5][3]
  • c. 1448 – uralkodó “ruler” in the Jókai Codex (copy of a text written after 1372).[5][3]
  • before 1495 – “husband” in the Guary Codex.[5][3]
  • 1527 – “ruling power”, and the verb ural “to own as lord”, in the Érdy Codex.[5][3]
  • 1558 – Slovak uram as a form of address.[12]
  • 1786 – uradalom “estate”.[3][4]
  • 1841 – uralom “rule, dominion”.[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A member of the ruling, propertied class; a wealthy, influential man; one who lives without working; a gentleman in manners.[13][1]
  2. A title and form of address for men, Mr, sir: Kovács úr, igazgató úr; men as against ladies; as a sign, the men's toilet.[13][1]
  3. A master: one who has control over a place, a situation or other people.[13][1]
  4. An owner or employer.[13]
  5. (dated) With a possessive suffix, husband: az uram “my husband”.[13][1]
  6. (Christianity) The Lord, God or Jesus Christ: az Úr, Úristen.[13][1]
  7. A controlling, deciding force.[13]

Word family

  • uradalom
  • ural
  • uralkodik
  • uralkodó
  • uralom
  • uras
  • uraság
  • uraskodik
  • uratlan
  • uraz
  • urizál
  • úrféle
  • úri
  • ország
  • uracska
  • Finnish uros

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Czuczor, Gergely; Fogarasi, János (1862–1874), A magyar nyelv szótára, 6 vols., Pest: Emich Gusztáv / Athenaeum
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 3, 1035
  6. ^ Róna-Tas, András; Berta, Árpád (2011), West Old Turkic: Turkic Loanwords in Hungarian, 2 vols., Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz (Turcologica 84); word list via Lexibank
  7. ^ a b Rédei, Károly (ed.) (1986–1991), Uralisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz; online as Uralonet, uralonet.nytud.hu
  8. ^ a b c d Lakó, György (ed.) (1967–1978), A magyar szókészlet finnugor elemei, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 3, 653
  9. ^ Budenz, József (1873–1881), Magyar–ugor összehasonlító szótár, Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, p. 867
  10. ^ a b Bárczi, Géza (1941), Magyar szófejtő szótár, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, p. 175
  11. ^ Kiss, Lajos (1976), Szláv tükörszók és tükörjelentések a magyarban, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó (Nyelvtudományi Értekezések 92), p. 192–193
  12. ^ a b Gregor, Ferenc (2023), A szlovák nyelv magyar elemei, ed. András Zoltán, Budapest: Kairosz, p. 838
  13. ^ a b c d e f g Bárczi, Géza; Országh, László (eds.) (1959–1962), A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára, 7 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online at ertelmezo.oszk.hu