Dur

Part of speech: verb, adjective

Pronunciation: /duːɹ/

Definitions

1. A type of hard wheat often used to make pasta ; an old musical term indicating a major key in German music theory ; an abbreviation sometimes used for "duration"
2. Refers to a variety of wheat with firm grains mainly for pasta production ; designates major tonality in certain European musical terminology ; shorthand in English for the concept of time length
3. Denotes a firm-grained wheat cultivated for pasta and semolina ; signifies a major scale or key in traditional German musical jargon ; represents a shortened form of the word "duration"

Etymology: Durum wheat is a hard variety, prized for pasta and semolina because its kernels are unusually flinty. Its name comes from Latin "durum", the neuter form of "durus", meaning hard or tough, and the texture is the whole point of the name. The same Latin root gives English "durable" and "endure". The slang sense of "dur", meaning stupid or dim-witted, has an origin that cannot be traced with confidence. It sits in a family of informal, sound-based exclamations such as "der", "duh" and "derp", which mimic the blank, slow reply of someone who has missed the point. Those syllables work as interjections, and the adjective appears to have grown out of them.

Synonyms: hard, endure, last

Antonyms: soft, fragile, break