οὑρα

Frisk Etymological English

Grammatical information: f.
Meaning: tail (Il.), later often metaph. rear(guard) (X., Plb.).
Other forms: Ion. -ή
Compounds: Compp., e.g. οὑρ-αγός m. leader of the rearguard with -έω, -ία (X., Plb.. LXX); on κόλ-ουρος (s. κόλος), κόθ-ουρος, πάγ-ουρος s. vv.
Derivatives: 1. Dimin. οὑράδιον (Gp.); 2. adj. οὑρ-αῖος belonging to the tail ( Ψ 520, Hp.) with -αία f. (like κεραία a.o.) tail (Aret.), -αῖον n. id. (E.). 3. οὑρ-αχός m. foetal organ, point, outer end, e.g. of the heart, of the eyebrows, of a stalk (medic., Ael.), -ίαχος m. lower end of a spear (Il., A. R., AP ; metr. condit.?); cf. κύμβ-αχος, στόμ-αχος a.o. 4. οὑρώδης belonging to the tail (Hp. v.l.). - On οὖραξ s.v.
Origin: IE [Indo-European] [340] *h₁ers- tail; PGX [probably a word of Pre-Greek origin]
Etymology: Like κουρά beside κόρρη, κόρση, οὑρά can stand beside ὄρρος, -ορσος; basis then prob. *ὀρσά (on the phonetics s. on κουρά); note esp. OIr. err f. tail < IE *ersā. Positing *ὀρσι̯ά (WP. 1, 138; also Forbes Glotta 36, 237 f. as alternative) or *ὀρσϜά (Brugmann-Thumb 148 a.o. referring to Skt. r̥ṣvá- high) is unnecessary (cf. Schwyzer 286 Zus. 1 w. rich lit.). S. also ὄρρος. - Remarkable is the word οὐραχός with a suffix that it prob. Pre-Greek; here again there are the parallels with -αχ-, -ιχ-, -υχ- (Chantraine Form. 403). Even stranger is the form οὐρίαχος, which has even been considered a metrical licence (there is no other word in -ιαχος). This leads to he idea that the preceding vowel was palatal, i.e. -rsy-; cf. Beekes FS Kortlandt; this might lead to the conclusion that the word (tail) is Pre-Greek (unless one concludes that οὐρ(ι)αχός is not cognate with the tail-word). Cf. also on οὖραξ.