bur

Clipping of English Burmese.

bur

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2/B language code for Burmese.

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Burmese terms

• burr

From Middle English burre, of unknown origin but probably from North Germanic (Scandinavian) source or from Old English byrst (“bristle”). See also burr. Compare English bristle, Danish burre (“bur, burdock”), Norwegian borre, Swedish borre, and Old Norse burst (“bristle”).

• (US) IPA^(key): /bɝ/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian) IPA^(key): /bɜː/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /bʌr/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /bøː/
• (Liverpool, fair–fur merger) IPA^(key): /beː/
• (Humberside, Teesside, fair–fur merger) IPA^(key): /bɛː/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)
• Homophones: burr, Burr; birr (fern–fir–fur merger); bare, bear (both fair–fur merger)

bur (plural burs)

1. A rough, prickly husk around the seeds or fruit of some plants.
2. Any of several plants having such husks.
3. A rotary cutting implement having a selection of variously shaped heads.
4. Alternative form of burr (“small piece of material”).

• “bur”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
• “bur”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “bur”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• “bur”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “bur”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
• “burr”, in New Collegiate Dictionary‎^[1], 2001
• “borre”, in Lingea‎^[2], 2025
• “borre”, in Svenska Akademiens Ordbok‎^[3], 2025

• RUB, bru, rub

From Old Norse búr.

• IPA^(key): /buːr/, [b̥uːˀɐ̯], [b̥uɐ̯ˀ]
• Rhymes: -ur

bur n (singular definite buret, plural indefinite bure)

1. cage
2. (obsolete) (storage) room

• “bur” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “bur” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

From Old Norse burr, from Proto-Germanic *buriz. Cognate with Old English byre (“descendant, son”).

• IPA^(key): /pʏːr/
• Rhymes: -ʏːr

bur m (genitive singular burs, nominative plural burir)

1. (poetic) son

• The word sees the most use in poetry and the phrase eiga börn og buru, making the regular accusative plural form buri rarer in practice than buru.

• -bur

• Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), “bur”, in Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, →ISBN (Available at Málið.is under the “Eldri orðabækur” tab.)
• Kristín Bjarnadóttir, editor (2002–2026), “bur”, in Beygingarlýsing íslensks nútímamáls [The Database of Modern Icelandic Inflection] (in Icelandic), Reykjavík: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
• Mörður Árnason (2019), Íslensk orðabók, 5th edition, Reykjavík: Forlagið
• “bur” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)
• “bur”, in Ritmálssafn Orðabókar Háskólans [The Written Collection of the Lexicological Institute] (in Icelandic), Reykjavík: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies

From Latin bonus, from Old Latin duenos, later duonus, from Proto-Italic *dw-enos. Compare Romanian bun.

• IPA^(key): /bur/

bur m (feminine burę, neuter buro, plural bur, feminine plural bure)

1. good

Borrowed from Dutch boor (“drill”).

bur

1. drill

bur

1. inflection of burt:
   1. second/third-person singular present indicative
   2. third-person plural present indicative
   3. second-person singular imperative
2. (with the particle lai) third-person singular imperative of burt
3. (with the particle lai) third-person plural imperative of burt

bur

1. flour

From Arabic بُور (būr).

• IPA^(key): /buːr/
• Rhymes: -uːr

bur m (plural bwar, diminutive bura)

1. meadow, pastureland

bur

1. (Early Middle English) alternative form of bour

From Old Norse búr.

• IPA^(key): [bʉʷːɾ]

bur n (definite singular buret, indefinite plural bur, definite plural bura or burene)

1. cage
2. goal (sports)

• burhøne, burhøns

“bur” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Old Norse búr.

bur n (definite singular buret, indefinite plural bur, definite plural bura)

1. cage
2. goal (sports)

bur

1. present of bu

“bur” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Proto-West Germanic *būr, from Proto-Germanic *būrą. Cognate with Old Saxon būr, Old High German būr (German Bauer (“birdcage”)), Old Norse búr (Swedish bur).

• IPA^(key): /buːr/
• Rhymes: -ūr

būr n

1. private chamber, room
   • The Anglo-Saxon version of the story of Apollonius of Tyre

     Đā ġewearþ hit þæt þǣs mǣdenes fōstormōdor intō þām būre ēode, ⁊ ġesēah hī ðār sittan on miċelre ġedrefednesse, ⁊ hire cwæð tō, "Hwiġ eart þū hlæfdiġe swā ġedrefedes mōdes?"

     It happened that the girl's foster mother came into the room and saw her sitting full of confusion, and said to her "Lady, why are you so troubled of mind?."

Strong a-stem:

• Middle English: bour, boure, bowre, bowur, bur (Early Middle English)
  • English: bower
  • Scots: bour

būr m

1. a peasant, farmer

From Proto-West Germanic *būr, from Proto-Germanic *būrą (“dwelling”), whence also Old English būr, Old Norse búr.

• pūr

būr n

1. dwelling, quarters, bower

   brūd in būre

   a bride in the bower

• Middle High German: būr
  • German: Bauer (“birdcage”)

From Proto-West Germanic *būr, from Proto-Germanic *būraz (“inhabitant”).

*būr m

1. peasant, farmer

• gibūro
• gibūr

• ⇒ Middle High German: būre (“neighbor, farmer, peasant”)
  • Alemannic German: Puur, Buur
  • Bavarian: Baua
    • Mòcheno: pauer
  • Central Franconian: Buur, Boor, Bouer, Bauer
    • Luxembourgish: Bauer
  • German: Bauer (“farmer”)
    • → English: bauer; bower
    • → Polish: bauer
    • → Serbo-Croatian: pȁor, па̏ор
  • Rhine Franconian: Bauer
    • Pennsylvania German: Bauer
  • Yiddish: פּויער (poyer)
  • → Upper Sorbian: bur

bur

1. accusative/dative singular of burr

From Proto-West Germanic *būr, from Proto-Germanic *būraz, whence also Old English būr, Old Norse búr.

būr m

1. neighbour
2. inhabitant

• Low German: Buer, Boer

Same as the masculine noun.

būr n

1. dwelling

• ᛒᚢᚱ

From Old Norse búr, from Proto-Germanic *būrą.

bur n

1. dwelling, residence
2. storehouse
3. room, chamber
4. cage

nom_sg=būr

• Swedish: bur c

• IPA^(key): /ˈbur/
• Rhymes: -ur
• Syllabification: bur

bur f

1. genitive plural of bura

• Hyphenation: bur

bur m or f by sense (plural bures)

1. archaic form of bóer

• “bur”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “bur”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

From Vulgar Latin *burius, compare Italian buio.

• IPA^(key): /buːr/

bur m

1. darkness (lack of light)
   • December 2007, Nevio Spadoni, Guido Bianchi, Urazion in la Ludla, il Papiro, page 9:

     Te, che t’vid / la luš int e’ mi bur, […]

     You, who sees / the light in my darkness, […]

bur

1. romanization of 𒁓 (bur)

From Old Swedish būr, from Old Norse búr, from Proto-Germanic *būrą.

• IPA^(key): /bʉːr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʉːr

bur c

1. a cage
2. (slang) a prison, a jail, an arrest

   att sitta i buren

   to be imprisoned

• bura in

• bur in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• bur in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• bur in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Borrowed from Russian бу́рый (búryj).

bur

1. brown

bur

1. brown

• Zajceva, N. G.; Mullonen, M. I. (2007), “бурый”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary]‎^[4], Petrozavodsk: Periodika

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /bɨːr/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /biːr/

bur

1. soft mutation of pur

• IPA^(key): /bʊɾ/

bur

1. little

bur

1. one's own child

   Bur egi ― My child

2. the child of a woman's co-wife
3. (by extension) the child of one's brothers or cousins

• Beria-English English-Beria Dictionary [provisional] ADESK, Iriba, Kobe Department, Chad