ROOTS Genealogical Dictionary

 

ROOTS


Dictionary of Genealogy & Archaic Terms

[U]

Last Edited: Tuesday, January 17, 2012

This file contains many of the common "buzzwords", terminology and legal words found in genealogy work. If you think of any words that should be added to this list, please notify Randy Jones.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J
K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

UA
[Gaelic] the surname prefix which constitutes a surname or parentage. This later was transliterated into "O'", as in O'Toole.
UDAL
freehold tenure in absolute ownership
UÍ
[Gaelic] the surname prefix which denotes the sept or dynasty of an individual  
ULAMA
[Arabic] scholar
ULEMA
[Turkish] scholar
ULTIMO
[Latin] last, often abbreviated as "ult." in older obituaries, indicating a previous month or year
UMLAUT
A "double dot over a letter".  The double-dot (called a diuresis; the letter-symbol combination is called an umlaut) is the correct, German way of writing the word; the ue, oe or ae letter combinations are a way of representing the umlaut in non-germanic alphabets which lack the umlauts.
UMM
[Arabic] mother of
UNCIA
[Visgothic] six solidi
UNCUS
Baltic measure of land
UNPROBATED
the will and the estate not submitted for probate
UNSOLEMN WILL
a will in which the executor is not named
UMQUHILE
[Scottish] former, late, deceased
UNGENTLE
not befitting of a gentleman
UNUS
[Latin] Numeral one (1)
URADEL
[Ger.] the nobility whose titles were created prior to 1350
USURY
interest charged on a loan, which is forbidden under Canon Law.  This was largely ignored either by having non-Christians, i.e., Jews, provide the loans, or by giving the lender a share of the property income.
UTERINE
of the mother; this usually refers to two siblings who share a mother, but have separate fathers
UTFANGENTHEOF
the right to chase and hold a thief from beyond the jurisdiction where the crime occurred 
UTTAVES
octave
UTWARE
service
UXOR
[Latin] wife - the married state, abbreviated as "ux"

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J
K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z


Sources:

{A}The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

{B} Black's Law Dictionary, 6th Edition

{D} Dictionary.com

{E} Evans, Barbara Jean. The New A to Zax

{F}The Dictionary of Genealogy by Terrick V H Fitzhugh

{H} History of the Later Roman Empire,  Vol.1, J.B. Bury, 1958.

{O}The Oxford English Dictionary

{P} Pepys' diary

{R} Random House Unabridged Dictionary (2006)

{Q} Hinshaw, William Wade, "Encyclopedia of America Quaker Genealogy," (1938, Rpt., Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994)

{W} Webster's Collegiate Dictionary; Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.


 

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