Hure
/hʊər/noun
An obsolete or dialectal form of “whore,” meaning a prostitute or sexually promiscuous woman.
Did you know?Hure belongs to the same ancient Germanic word family as English “whore,” German “Hure,” and Dutch “hoer,” though its modern use is obsolete and dialectal.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*keh₂-
“To desire or love; a proposed ancestral root behind the later Germanic sexual term.”
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic
*hōrōn
“A sexually promiscuous woman or prostitute.”
Old English
Old English
hōre
“A prostitute; a woman regarded as sexually immoral.”
Middle English
Middle English
hore / hure
“A prostitute; variant spellings developed as pronunciation and regional spelling changed.”
Scots and English dialects
Scots/English
hure
“A dialectal or Scots form of “whore.””
Modern English
English
hure
“An obsolete or regional form, encountered mainly in historical, dialectological, or antiquarian texts.”