cur - Wikiwand

Etymology

From Middle English curre (“watchdog, small hunting dog, mongrel, mutt”), perhaps of Middle Low German or North Germanic origin. Compare Middle Dutch corre (“domestic dog, yard dog, watch-dog”), dialectal Dutch korre (“dog, yard dog”), dialectal Swedish kurre (“a dog”). Compare also Old Norse kurra (“to growl; grumble”), Middle Low German kurren, korren (“to growl”). Compare also Middle Dutch querie (“female dog, bitch”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation, General Australian) IPA^(key): /kɜː/
- Audio (Southern England): (file)
(General American) IPA^(key): /kɝ/
(Scotland) IPA^(key): /kʌr/
(New Zealand) IPA^(key): /køː/
(Liverpool, fair–fur merger) IPA^(key): /keː/
(Humberside, Teesside, fair–fur merger) IPA^(key): /kɛː/
Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)
Homophones: Kerr (fern–fir–fur merger), care (fair–fur merger)

Noun

cur (plural curs)

(dated or humorous) A contemptible or inferior dog.
- c. 1515–1516, published 1568, John Skelton, Againſt venemous tongues enpoyſoned with ſclaunder and falſe detractions &c.:
  A fals double tunge is more fiers and fell
  Then Cerberus the cur couching in the kenel of hel;
  Wherof hereafter, I thinke for to write,
  Of fals double tunges in the diſpite.
- 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:
  you have many enemies, that know not why they are so, but, like to village-curs, bark when their fellows do.
- 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “[The Fables of Æsop, &c.] Fab[le] LXXVI. A Dog in a Manger.”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC, page 75:
  A Churliſh Envious Curr vvas gotten into a Manger, and there lay Growling and Snarling to keep the Horſes from their Provender. The Dog Eat None himſelf, and yet rather Ventur'd the Starving his Own Carcaſe then he would ſuffer any thing elfe to be the Better for't.
- 1897, Joseph Conrad, “II”, in An Outpost of Progress:
  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[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 25”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:
  "You have no more spirit than a mongrel cur. You lie down on the ground and ask people to trample on you."
(dated or humorous) A detestable person.
- 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
  This butcher's cur is venom-mouth'd, and I have not the power to muzzle him.
- 1900, Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim, page vi. 54:
  "Who 's a cur - now - hey?"
- 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 201:
  Clayton interrupted him. “Stop!” he cried. “Stop! What manner of cur are you that you traduce the character of a good woman whom we believe dead! God!”
(archaic, dialect) A sheepdog or watchdog.
- 1710, Ambrose Phillips, Pastorals, The Fourth Pastoral , line 119:
  Then send our Curs to gather up the Sheep
- 1884, Robert Holland, A Glossary of Words used in the County of Chester, page 90:
  "He's a good sharp cur," or "a good cur," is said of any dog that barks at strangers and guards his master's property.

Derived terms

Translations

contemptible dog

Bulgarian: пес (bg) m (pes), помияр (bg) m (pomijar)
Danish: køter (da) c
Dutch: mormel (nl) n
Esperanto: hundaĉo (eo)
Finnish: rakki (fi), piski (fi)
French: clébard (fr) m, corniaud (fr) m, roquet (fr) m, clebs (fr) m
Galician: tus m, tisco m, cuzo (gl) m, quisquelo m
German: Köter (de) m
Greek: κοπρίτης (el) m (koprítis)
Hungarian: korcs kutya sg
Irish: amhsán m, amhsóg f
Macedonian: ла́нгач m (lángač)
Norwegian: kjøter (no) m
Polish: kundel (pl) m
Portuguese: vira-lata (pt) m, rafeiro (pt)
Romanian: javră (ro) f, potaie (ro) f
Russian: дворняга (ru) (dvornjaga), ша́вка (ru) (šávka)
Spanish: chucho (es) m, quiltro (es) (Chile)
Swedish: byracka (sv) c
Yiddish: כּלבֿ m (keylev)

detestable person

Danish: sjover c
Dutch: hondsvot (nl) m
Finnish: lurjus (fi)
French: chien (fr) m, roquet (fr) m
German: Köter (de) m
Greek: κοπρίτης (el) m (koprítis)
Irish: suarachán m, maistín m, draoidín m
Latin: scelestus (la) m
Macedonian: ла́нгач m (lángač)
Middle English: dogge
Russian: ша́вка (ru) (šávka)
Yiddish: כּלבֿ m (keylev)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)} ке̑р m, ^{(please verify)} псе̏то n, ^{(please verify)} џу̀кела f

Roman: ^{(please verify)} kȇr (sh) m, ^{(please verify)} psȅto (sh) n, ^{(please verify)} džùkela (sh) f

Anagrams

CRU, Cru, RUC, cru, ruc

English

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Anagrams

Aromanian

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

Noun

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

Verb

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Alternative forms

Verb

Related terms

Dalmatian

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

Adjective

Etymology 2

Noun

Ingrian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Interjection

References

Irish

Latin

Laz

Manx

Megleno-Romanian

Middle English

Middle Irish

Polish

Romagnol

Romanian

Scottish Gaelic

Welsh