Etymology
1. Potentially from Proto-Germanic *ūrą (“water, rain; wetness”), from Proto-Indo-European *uh₁r-, zero grade form of *weh₁r- (“water”). Related to Old English ūrig (“moist”), Latin ūrīna (“urine”). Also Old Norse *vār (“pus, bodily gunk”), Old English wær (“sea”), Old Prussian wurs (“pool”), Sanskrit वार् (vā́r, “water”).
2. The many descendants show a clear connection with precipitation, often coupled with wind, but varies greatly in terms of what precipitation is specified, from snow, to rain, to drizzle etc, as well as the strength of wind, from light wind, to storm. Compare dialectal Danish ur (“haze”), Old Icelandic úr (“drizzle, spray”), Norwegian ur (“rainy weather in the mountains”), yr (“drizzle; dew; snowfall”), yra (“to drizzle”), Swedish ur (“windy precipitation; blustery and profuse snowfall”), i ur och skur (“through stormy snow and rain”, literally “in ur and shower”), yr (“windy precipitation; blustery and profuse snowfall; swirling, bluster; drizzle, spray”), yra (“snowstorm”), dialectal Swedish ura (“to drizzle”), Gutnish starur (“springtime snowy or rainy weather”, literally “starling-ur”).
3. The common wind/storm-component might be a later introduction; compare the compunds of Norwegian yrvær (“blowing snow, snowstorm”), Swedish urväder (“bad weather involving ur”), yrväder (“blustery weather; blowing snow, snowstorm”), recorded from ca. 1430, compounding ur/yr, with weather, which initially meant “air in motion, blowing”. However, if related to Alemannic German urig (“ragin (of the weather)”), then the wind/storm component could be an older Pan-Germanic sense. Further compare potential further related words, like dialectal Swedish urrig (“ruffled”), urra (“to ruffle”), urr (“ruffle”), which all also have analog senses regarding shivering. See: Latin Nouns '
ūrīna', Old Norse Nouns '
*var', Old English Nouns '
wær', Danish Nouns '
ur', Icelandic Nouns '
úr', Swedish Nouns '
ur'.
Verbs referencing "úr"
Old English Nouns
ora, Norwegian Nynorsk Nouns
yr, Latvian Nouns
jūra, Icelandic Nouns
ýra, Old Norse Nouns
var.