ourie

English

Etymology

From Old Norse úr (“drizzle, spray”), from Proto-Germanic *ūrą, from Proto-Indo-European *uh₁r-, zero grade form of *weh₁r- (“water”).

Adjective

ourie (comparative more ourie, superlative most ourie)

1. (Scotland) Chill; having the sensation of cold; drooping; shivering.
2. (Scotland) Bleak; melancholy.
   • Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4, "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" (BURNS, ROBERT [1759-1796], Scottish poet)

     Familiar with all the seasons he represents the phases of a northern winter with a frequency characteristic of his clime and of his fortunes; her tempests became anthems in his verse, and the sounding woods "raise his thoughts to Him that walketh on the wings of the wind"; full of pity for the shelterless poor, the "ourie cattle," the "silly sheep," and the "helpless birds," he yet reflects that the bitter blast is not "so unkind as man's ingratitude."

Scots

Etymology

From Old Norse úr (“drizzle, spray”), from Proto-Germanic *ūrą, from Proto-Indo-European *uh₁r-, zero grade form of *weh₁r- (“water”).

Adjective

ourie (comparative mair ourie, superlative maist ourie)

1. Chill; having the sensation of cold; drooping; shivering.
2. Bleak; melancholy.
   • Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4, "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" (BURNS, ROBERT [1759-1796], Scottish poet)

     Familiar with all the seasons he represents the phases of a northern winter with a frequency characteristic of his clime and of his fortunes; her tempests became anthems in his verse, and the sounding woods "raise his thoughts to Him that walketh on the wings of the wind"; full of pity for the shelterless poor, the "ourie cattle," the "silly sheep," and the "helpless birds," he yet reflects that the bitter blast is not "so unkind as man's ingratitude."