Ur-
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Ur- is a German prefix meaning "prot(o)-", "first", "oldest", "original" when used with a noun. In combination with an adjective, it can be translated as the intensifier "very".
Examples
- Urgeschichte (prehistory)
- Ureinwohner (first inhabitants, natives)
- Uraufführung (first night, premiere)
- Urabstimmung (plebiscite, particularly among the members of a labor union; grassroots decision)
- Urkirche (the Christian church in the 1st century AD)
- Urwald (primeval forest, jungle)
- Urinstinkt (basic instinct)
- Urgroßmutter (great-grandmother)
- Ursprung (source)
Note that not all German nouns starting with Ur- follow this pattern, for instance, Urlaub (vacation, holiday), Urteil (verdict), or Urin (urine) have different etymologies and altogether different meanings.
There is also an adjective uralt ("very old") that has existed for a long time. Recently, however, the prefix ur- has been used productively, especially by young speakers, to create countless neologisms. New words include the colloquialisms urfad ("very boring") and urgeil and urcool (both meaning "super", "very nice").
It is also used with names for relatives where great is used in English, e.g. Urgroßmutter ("Great Grandmother") and Urenkel ("Great Grandson"). As in English, this is repeated for want of a better term for the next generation back or forward: Ururgroßvater ("Great Great Grandfather").
In English when combined with another noun, usually retaining the hyphen, it has a similar meaning to that in German. A well-known example is ur-Hamlet, used by literary scholars to denote an anonymously authored lost play of the 16th century, the story of which was adapted by Shakespeare for the plot of his play The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.