Ur

From German ur- meaning "original, earliest, primitive," which derives from Old High German ur- ("out; without"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European uds- ("up, out"). Initially borrowed into English in the mid-19th century through German compound words like Ursprache ("hypothetical primitive language"). Since the mid-20th century, it became a living prefix in English, commonly hyphenated (ur-text, ur-myth) to denote proto- or original forms.