Etymologically
Log in

urus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 20:45. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈuː.rʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈuː.rus][1]

Forms

ūrus m (genitive ūrī); second declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.[2][3][1] The OLD and Köbler take it as a Germanic word, and Köbler gives it as borrowed from Proto-Germanic *ūrōn;[2][4] Georges compares Old High German ūr,[5] and the OLD compares Old Norse urr.[2] Lewis and Short and Gaffiot call it Celtic instead,[3][6] and Wiktionary reports that Caesar gave it a Celtic origin and that it may be only indirectly related to Proto-Germanic *ūraz.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first author the dictionaries cite is Caesar, in the sixth book of the Gallic War,[3][6][7] where it names the aurochs, the long-horned wild ox of ancient Europe.[2]

Semantic evolution

Virgil uses it twice in the Georgics, and Pliny the Elder in his account of animals.[3][7] The glossaries explain it with Greek words for a German ox and for the buffalo, and in Latin as a forest ox.[8] British medieval glossaries kept it as the name of a wild ox: Ælfric's glossary gives the Old English equivalent, and Osbern of Gloucester explains it as a wild ox of the fields.[9] Ancient Greek οὖρος (oûros) was borrowed from it, and it lives on in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese ⟨uro⟩ and in English urus and ure.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 50 BC – Caesar names the wild ox in the Gallic War.[3][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it in the Georgics.[3][7][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder mentions it in the Natural History.[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The aurochs, the long-horned wild ox of ancient Europe.[2][3][5]
  • English urus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press