Uhr German · revision 35386

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=14th century (1348, in a compound)|origins=ine-pro *yeh₁-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /uːr/, [ʔuːɐ̯]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Uhr''' ''f'' (genitive Uhr, plural Uhren)^(Wiktionary)

+ Until the 16th century the spelling wavered between ''hore'', ''ore'' and ''ure''.^(DWB|23, 731) Luther used the Latin form ''hora''.^(DWB|23, 731)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|ūre|t=hour]], [[bor|gml|ūre|t=hour]], from [[dum|ure]], from [[fro|hore|alt=(h)ore]], from [[la|hōra|t=time, hour]], from [[grc|ὥρα|tr=hṓra|t=season, hour]].^(Kluge 2011|939)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The word reached German in the 14th century on the Lower Rhine and spread from there over the whole German-speaking area.^(Duden 7 2020)^(DWB|23, 731) Beside it, Middle High German had [[m|gmh|hōre]] “canonical hour”, taken directly from Latin, and until the 16th century forms with and without the Latin /h/ competed.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|23, 731)

+

+ The Greek word is related by ablaut to [[Jahr]],^(Kluge 2011|939)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) and goes back to [[ine-pro|*yeh₁-|t=year, season]].^(Wiktionary) The same Old French word gave [[en|hour]], and the Romance descendants of the Latin word include [[fr|heure]], [[it|ora]] and [[es|hora]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The word was borrowed after the long /uː/ of Middle High German had become a diphthong in most dialects, so it kept its /uː/; a diphthongized form ⟨auer⟩ occurs only in some dialects.^(Wiktionary)^(DWB|23, 731) The sense “timepiece” arose by [[metonymy]] from “hour”, first in the compound [[m|gmh|ōrglocke|t=hour bell]], and is not found in the related languages.^(Kluge 2011|939)^(Wiktionary) It replaced the older [[m|gmh|ōrlei]], [[m|goh|orlei]] “clock”, from [[m|la|hōrologium]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The oldest record is from Frankfurt in 1348, in the compound ''uhrglocke'' “hour bell”, and the word first meant “hour”.^(DWB|23, 731)^(Kluge 2011|939) In Middle High German ''ūr'' meant both “hour” and “clock”.^(Köbler MHD)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the 15th century ''Uhr'' named the device for measuring time, which is now its main sense.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993) The old meaning “hour” survives in telling the time: ''es ist zwei Uhr'' “it is two o'clock”, ''wie viel Uhr ist es?'' “what time is it?”.^(Paul 2002)^(Duden 7 2020) In this use the word does not take a plural ending.^(Adelung 1793) Compounds such as ''Sanduhr'', ''Sonnenuhr'', ''Wasseruhr'' and ''Taschenuhr'' go back to Early New High German.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ From Middle Low German the word also passed into the Scandinavian languages.^(DWB|23, 731) Slovene and Serbo-Croatian borrowed it as ''ura''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 12th century – The older word ''orlei'' “clock” is found in an Old High German gloss manuscript.^(Köbler AHD)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1348 – First record, in Frankfurt, in the compound ''uhrglocke''.^(DWB|23, 731)

+ * 1405 – Early New High German ''orglucke'' “hour bell”.^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 15th century – ''Uhr'' names the device for measuring time.^(Paul 2002)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+ * 1424 – A text asks ''wie vil hor hat ez geschlagen?'' (“how many hours has it struck?”).^(DWB|23, 731)

+ * Late 16th century – The forms ''Ur(e)'', ''Uhr(e)'' win out over ''Hore''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(DWB|23, 731)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|clock]] or [[m|en|watch]]: an instrument that shows the time.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(invariable, after a number)'' [[m|en|o'clock]]: the hour of the day.^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(in compounds)'' A [[m|en|meter]] for water or gas.^(Wiktionary)^(Wiktionary DE)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Uhrmacher]]

+ * [[Uhrwerk]]

+ * [[Uhrzeit]]

+ * [[Armbanduhr]]

+ * [[Sanduhr]]

+ * [[Sonnenuhr]]

+ * [[Taschenuhr]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Jahr]]

+ * [[en|hour]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Wissen, was die Uhr geschlagen hat'' is to know how things really stand.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Paul 2002) ''Jemandes Uhr ist abgelaufen'' means that someone must die, or must give up a post.^(Duden GWDS 1999) ''Irgendwo gehen die Uhren anders'' says that other standards apply in a place.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}