cur

Etymology

From Middle English kur, curre, of Middle Low German [Term?] or North Germanic origin. Compare Middle Dutch corre (“house dog; watch-dog”), dialectal Swedish kurre (“a dog”). Compare also Old Norse kurra (“to growl; grumble”), Middle Low German korren (“to growl”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): [kɜː]
• (US) IPA^(key): [kɝ]
• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)

Noun

cur (plural curs)

1. (dated or humorous) A contemptible or inferior dog.
   • 1613, Shakespeare, The Famous History of the Life of King Henry VIII, Act 2, scene 4

     "you have many enemies, that know not why they are so, but, like to village-curs, bark when their fellows do."

   • 1897, Joseph Conrad, “II”, in An Outpost of Progress:

     Makola, a civilized nigger, was very neat in his person. He threw the soapsuds skilfully over a wretched little yellow cur he had, then turning his face to the agent's house, he shouted from the distance, "All the men gone last night!" (...)

   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, chapter 25

     "You have no more spirit than a mongrel cur. You lie down on the ground and ask people to trample on you."

2. (dated or humorous) A detestable person.
   • 1613, Shakespeare, The Famous History of the Life of King Henry VIII, Act 1, scene 1

     "This butcher's cur is venom-mouth'd, and I have not the power to muzzle him."

Anagrams

• Cru, RUC, cru, ruc

Etymology 1

From Latin culus. Compare Romanian cur.

Etymology 2

From Latin currō. Compare Romanian cure, cur (modern curge, curg).

Etymology 3

From Latin cūrō. Compare archaic/regional Romanian cura, cur.

Etymology 1

From Latin cārus.

Etymology 2

From Latin cor. Compare Italian cuore, French coeur, Old Portuguese cor, Old Spanish cuer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kʊɾˠ]

Noun

cur m (genitive as substantive cuir, genitive as verbal noun curtha)

1. verbal noun of cuir
2. sowing, planting; tillage
3. burial
4. setting, laying
5. course; round
6. (of implements) set

Mutation

References

• "cur" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.

Alternative forms

• qūr, quūr, quōr (older spelling)
• quur, cor (rare)

Etymology

From Old Latin quūr, quōr, from Proto-Italic *kʷōr, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷōr, having undergone pre-resonant and monosyllabic lengthening from *kʷor (“where”), from *kʷos (“interrogative determiner”) +‎ *-r (“adverbial suffix”). For similar lengthening effect, compare to *bʰōr. For other Proto-Indo-European cognates, compare:

• Sanskrit कर्हि (kárhi, “when”), Proto-Germanic *hwar (“when”) < *kʷor
• Old English hwǣr (“where”), Old High German hwār (“where”) < *kʷēr
• Albanian kur (“when”), Lithuanian kur̃ (“where, whither”), Armenian ուր (ur, “where”) < *kʷur

See also quirquir (“wherever(?)”).^[1][2]

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /kuːr/

Adverb

cūr (not comparable)

1. why, for what reason, wherefore, to what purpose, from what motive

   Cur in terra iaces?

   Why are you lying on the ground?

   • Vergilius, Aeneis; Book XI, from line 424

     Cur ante tubam tremor occupat artus?

     Why before the trumpet (of war), fear seizes your limbs?

References

• cur in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• cur in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• cur in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • how came it that...: quid causae fuit cur...?
    
• “cūr” on page 519/1-2 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)

Etymology

From Old Irish cuirid, from older fo·ceird, do·cuirethar.

Verb

cur (verbal noun cur, coayrt)

1. put

   Cur y muc shen magh hoshiaght. ― Put that pig out first.

2. give

Mutation

References

• “1 cuirid” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

Etymology

From Latin culus.

Noun

cur

1. (slang) asshole (anus)

Noun

cur m

1. Alternative form of caur (“hero, warrior”)

Mutation

Etymology

From Latin culus, from Proto-Indo-European *kuH-l-, zero-grade without s-mobile form of *(s)kewH- (“to cover”). Compare Italian culo, French cul.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kur/

Noun

cur n (plural cururi)

1. (slang, vulgar, referring to the anus) asshole

   O să-mi bag pula în curul tău.

   I'm gonna put my cock in your ass.

Noun

cur m (genitive singular cuir, no plural)

1. verbal noun of cuir
2. placing, setting, sending, sowing
3. laying, pouring
4. falling of snow, raining
5. throwing

Mutation

References

• Faclair Gàidhlig Dwelly Air Loidhne, Dwelly, Edward (1911), Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan/The Illustrated [Scottish] Gaelic-English Dictionary (10th ed.), Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN