Turkic etymology :

Proto-Turkic: *sūr

Altaic etymology: Altaic etymology

Meaning: grey

Russian meaning: серый, бурый

Tatar: sorɨ

Turkmen: sūr

Oyrat: sur

Chuvash: sъʷrъʷ

Kirghiz: sur

Kazakh: sur

Bashkir: hor, hörö

Karaim: sur

Karakalpak: sur

Kumyk: sür

Comments: VEWT 433, TMN 3, 287, ЭСТЯ 7.

Altaic etymology :

Proto-Altaic: *si̯ū́jro

Nostratic: Nostratic

Meaning: yellowish, light

Russian meaning: желтоватый, светлый

Turkic: *sūr

Mongolian: *sirga

Tungus-Manchu: *sür-

Korean: *sjǝ̄i-

Comments: Doerfer MT 241. The Mong. vocalism is not quite regular: perhaps -i- instead of u~o under the influence of the following *-j- (which has to be reconstructed to account for Kor. -i-).

Mongolian etymology :

Proto-Mongolian: *sirga

Altaic etymology: Altaic etymology

Meaning: yellow (of a horse)

Russian meaning: соловый

Written Mongolian: sirɣa (L 716)

Middle Mongolian: širqa (SH), širɣa (MA 336)

Khalkha: šarga, šargal

Buriat: šarga, šargal

Kalmuck: šarɣǝ (КРС)

Ordos: šarGa 'буланый', šarGul 'white horse with black eyes and hooves'; 'light brown'

Dagur: šarga, šarag (Тод. Даг. 183)

Comments: Mong. > Evk. sirga etc., see Poppe 1966, 198, Doerfer MT 100, Rozycki 184.

Tungus etymology :

Proto-Tungus-Manchu: *sür-

Altaic etymology: Altaic etymology

Meaning: 1 yellowish, greyish 2 reddish 3 white (horse)

Russian meaning: 1 желтоватый, сероватый 2 рыжеватый, красноватый 3 белый (о лошади)

Even: hịraŋan 1

Literary Manchu: suru morin 3

Nanai: sūr- 2 (Он.)

Udighe: sī 'yellow paint'

Comments: ТМС 2, 95, 131. Length in the dialectal Nanai form (quoted from Onenko) is unclear, probably a misrecording. The Manchu form is peculiar: one would wish it to be < Mong. sira morin 'white horse', but the vocalization is extremely strange. On the other hand, Kor. sjǝra măr (see Lee 1958, 119) makes it quite probable that such a form did, indeed, exist in Manchu, but probably got mixed up later with the original root *sür-.

Korean etymology :

Proto-Korean: *sjǝ̄i-

Altaic etymology: Altaic etymology

Meaning: whitish

Russian meaning: беловатый

Modern Korean: sē-

Middle Korean: sjǝ̄i-

Comments: Nam 306, KED 963.

Nostratic etymology :

Eurasiatic: *c'VjrV

Meaning: grey

Borean: Borean

Indo-European: *(s)ḱeiro- (cf. also Balt. sark-, IE *sAr(ǝ)-t-?)

Altaic: *si̯ā̀jri [cf. also *si̯ū́jro 2090]

Uralic: *ćerV

Dravidian: *Ciṛ- (?)

References: (МССНЯ 363); ND 2114 *śEXarV 'bright, daybreak' (Ur.+Alt. + Sem.); 2220 *ŝihrV 'gray, bright (same Ur. + incorr. Drav. + Arab.); 2226 *ŝERḲV 'red, yellow' (Balt. + Mong. + Sem.).

Indo-European etymology :

Proto-IE: *k'ēy(w)-, *k'yē(w)-

Nostratic etymology: Nostratic etymology

Meaning: grey

Tokharian: ? B kwele ( < *kiwo-lo-) 'black, dark grey' (Adams 239)

Old Indian: śyāvá- `dark-brown, brown, dark'; śyāmá- `black, dark blue or brown or grey or green' (with -y- on analogy with śyāvá-); śārá- `variegated'

Avestan: syāva- 'schwarz'; sāma- 'schwarz'

Old Greek: kīrró- `rotgelb, gelbbraun'

Slavic: *sīvъ(jь), *sīnjьjь; *śḗrъ(jь)

Baltic: *čī̂w-a-/*čī̃w-a- adj., *čī̃w-ia-/*čī̂w-ia- c., *čē̂-m-a- / *čē̃-m-a- adj.

Germanic: *xaiw-in-a-, *xair-u-, *xair-i- adj.

Latin: caerulus, caeruleus `tief-, dunkelblau, ultramarin'

Celtic: Ir cīar (< *kei̯ro-) `dunkel'

Russ. meaning: серый, сивый

References: WP I 360 f, 420; Buck 67.

Vasmer's dictionary :

Baltic etymology :

Proto-Baltic: *čī̂w-a-/*čī̃w-a- adj., *čī̃w-ia-/*čī̂w-ia- c., *čē̂-m-a- / *čē̃-m-a- adj.

Meaning: grey, white

Indo-European etymology: Indo-European etymology

Lithuanian: šī́va- `weiss, scimmelfarbig', šī̃va- `id.', šī́vi-s, šī̃vi-s `Schimmel'; šḗma-, šē̃ma- `asch-, blau-, hellgrau (vom Vieh)', šḗmē `eine Kuh von blaugrauer Farbe'

Old Prussian: sywan `grau' V. 461

Germanic etymology :

Proto-Germanic: *xairu-, *xairia-, *xain=

Meaning: gray, hoar

IE etymology: IE etymology

Old Norse: hār-r, hǟr-r `grau'

Old Danish: hɔr

Old English: hār `hoar, hoary, grey, old'; hǟwen `blue, azure, purple, discoloured, green'

English: hoar

Old Frisian: hēr

Old Saxon: hēr `alt, eehrwürdig'

Middle Dutch: heer, gheheer `aanzienlijk, voortreffelijk'

Dutch: heerlijk

Middle Low German: hēr

Old High German: hēr `ehrwürdig, alt' (8.Jh.)

Middle High German: hēr, hēre 'hoch, vornehm; heilig, stolz; freudig'

German: hehr

Uralic etymology :

Number: 63

Proto: *ćerV

> Nostratic: > Nostratic

English meaning: grey

German meaning: grau

Udmurt (Votyak): ǯ́ar (S), źar (K), ʒ́ar (J) 'Morgendämmerung', ʒ́arekti̮- 'verbleichen, blaß werden'

Komi (Zyrian): ʒ́or (S P) 'grau, grauhaarig (S P); unreif (Beere) (P)', ʒ́o^.riʒ́ (PO) 'недоспелый, недозрелый (о ягоде)'

Mansi (Vogul): šir (P), sir (K), sēri (N) 'Dämmerung, Abendgrauen, Morgen, Tagesanbruch'

Hungarian: szir, zyr, zir (altung.) 'grau', szűr 'Bauernmantel, Grobtuchmantel', szürke, zewrke 'grau; (altung.) braun, tiefschwarz'

References: FUV; Budenz MUSz 321; Donn. VglWb. 677; КЭСКЯ; MSzFgrE; TESz; ИВПЯ 80

Dravidian etymology :

Proto-Dravidian : *siẓ- (?)

Meaning : yellow, saffron

Nostratic etymology: Nostratic etymology

Proto-Gondi-Kui : *siṛiŋ- (?)

Gondwan etymology :

Proto-Gondi-Kui : *siṛiŋ- (?)

Meaning : yellow, saffron

Dravidian etymology: Dravidian etymology

Proto-Kui-Kuwi : *sṛī̆ŋ-a

Kui-Kuwi etymology :

Proto-Kui-Kuwi : *sṛī̆ŋ-a

Meaning : turmeric

Gondwan etymology: Gondwan etymology

Kui : sṛīnga "turmeric; the colour of turmeric, saffron, yellow"

Kuwi (Fitzgerald) : hinga "turmeric; the colour of turmeric, saffron, yellow"

Kuwi (Schulze) : hinga

Sunkarametta Kuwi : hīŋga

Parja Kuwi : hīŋga

Kuwi (Israel) : hīŋgeri "yellow"

Additional forms : Also Kui_P sīnga turmeric

Notes : The long vowel is probably original, since *sṛīŋga < *siṛ-ŋga; however, reasons of shortening in several Kuwi dialects are unclear.

Number in DED : 2608

Long-range etymologies :

Borean (approx.) : CVRV

Meaning : grey

Eurasiatic : *c'VjrV

Afroasiatic : ? Sem. *šaħr- 'daybreak, dawn', Ah. srr 'be bright'

Sino-Caucasian : *sVrV́

Reference : (МССНЯ 363); ND 2114, 2220.

Sino-Caucasian etymology :

Proto-Sino-Caucasian: *sVŕV́

Meaning: yellow, grey

Borean etymology: Borean etymology

North Caucasian: *sV̆rV

Yenisseian: *su(ʔ)ŕ-

Basque: *suri

North Caucasian etymology :

Proto-North Caucasian: *sV̆rV

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: grey

Proto-Nakh: *sire(-n)

Proto-Tsezian: *zerV ( ~ z:-,-l-)

Notes: A Nakh-Tsez. isogloss. Although similar colour names exist in other linguistic families (cf. Russ. серый < Slav. *xĕrъ, Mong. sira 'yellow'), the EC root seems to be genuine (neither the PN nor the Tsez. form can be explained by borrowing).

Nakh etymology :

Proto-Nakh: *sire(-n)

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: grey

Chechen: sira

Ingush: sira

Comments: Cf. also Chech. (in Uslar's recording) siri id.

Tsezian etymology :

Proto-Tsezian: *zerV ( ~ z:-,-l-,-ɨ-,-ǝ-)

North Caucasian etymology: North Caucasian etymology

Meaning: grey

Tsezi: zira

Khvarshi: zara (Radzhibov)

Comments: PTsKh *zǝRa.

Yenisseian etymology :

Proto-Yenisseian: *suŕ-

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: yellow

Ket: sulemam (М., Сл.)

Kottish: šui

Pumpokol: túl-si (Сл.)

Comments: ССЕ 278. In Kottish *suŕ- 'yellow' and *sur- 'red, blood' are distinctly opposed; in Ket and Pumpokol they merged for phonetic reasons (merging of the reflexes of *-r- and *-ŕ-). On Werner's reconstruction <*sʌj / *sʌn-> see under *son-.

Basque etymology :

Proto-Basque: *suri

Sino-Caucasian etymology: Sino-Caucasian etymology

Meaning: white

Bizkaian: zuri

Gipuzkoan: zuri

High Navarrese: zuri

Low Navarrese: zuri

Salazarese: zuri

Lapurdian: zuri

Baztanese: zuri

Aezkoan: zuri

Zuberoan: zúri

Roncalese: zuri

Comments: The expressive palatal variant xuri /šuri/ is also widespread, esp. in the East (BNV,LAB, ZBR) = GIP txuri /čuri/. In some dialects the expressive form has supplanted the unmarked form in everyday use.

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