Lemizh / English dictionary

grUrà.

to make the river Dniester

Etymology

< NLem grUr‑a
< LMLem argUr‑yr
< MLem arg‑Ur‑yr, compound of
  MLem arg‑ar ‘river’
< OLem arg‑ ‘flow, drip’
< PLem *arg‑, root present of
< PIE *reg̑‑
 —and—
  MLem Ur‑yr ‘right’ [direction]
< OLem ür‑
< PLem *ūr‑, r-stem adjective of
< PIE *u̯eg̑‑ ‘lively, strong’

Expected would be ModLem **gràc., but poststem formation was inhibited by the fact that rivers are mythologically female, as in other PIE languages.

The ‘left’ river is the Dnieper.

Cognates

Ice raki ‘moisture, dampness’; Eng wake, vigour (via Lat vigeō ‘thrive, flourish’)