Etymograph

English

hurrah

Hurrah may come from German hurra ‘hooray’, from Proto-Germanic *hurzaną ‘to rush’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-1‘to run’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hurzaną1‘to rush’uncertain
  3. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350hurrā1uncertain
  4. Germanc. 1650–presenthurra2‘hooray’uncertain
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1999hurrah2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, German hurra
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English hurrah
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1999, Anthony Horowitz et al., Death's Shadow: “Oh, she's speaking to me! Hurrah.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-Wiktionary, German hurra‘to run’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hurzanąWiktionary, German hurra‘to rush’uncertain
  3. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350hurrāWiktionary, German hurrauncertain
  4. Germanc. 1650–presenthurraWiktionary, English hurrah‘hooray’uncertain
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1999hurrahWiktionary, English hurrah. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1999, Anthony Horowitz et al., Death's Shadow: “Oh, she's speaking to me! Hurrah.”

The story

Possibly adopted from German hurra, itself of uncertain origin, or possibly an alteration of huzzah.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’

course, career, charge, current, carry, rush, occur, cargo, carrier, currency, curriculum, corridor, carriage, courier, chariot, precursor, carousel, incur, caricature, concur, cursor, corsair, recursive, corral, recursion, recur, courant, succour, hussar, carrack, 43 more

through Proto-Germanic *hurzaną ‘to rush’

hurry

Today it means

intj Expressing approval, appreciation, or happiness.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “hurrah”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for German hurra. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- / hurrah

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