*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of Ora

* (given name): First appeared in the 19th century when similar sounding names like Cora, Dora and Nora were in fashion. Possibly shortened from Aurelia, sometimes spelled Ora Lee, or, Aura Lea, in the American civil war

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
name

A diminutive of the female given name Aurelia, from Latin, variant of Aura. Mainly used in the U.S.A. in the latter half of the 19th century. · A surname · Alternative spelling of Auer (“German spelling”): A commune of South Tyrol, northern Italy (from the Italian spelling)

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

* (given name): First appeared in the 19th century when similar sounding names like Cora, Dora and Nora were in fashion. Possibly shortened from Aurelia, sometimes spelled Ora Lee, or, Aura Lea, in the American civil war song. * (Italian commune): Borrowed from Italian Ora

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Borrowed-form mentionOrait
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "sense",
      "args": {
        "1": "given name"
      },
      "expansion": "(given name):"
    },
    {
      "name": "sense",
      "args": {
        "1": "Italian commune"
      },
      "expansion": "(Italian commune):"
    },
    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "it",
        "3": "Ora"
      },
      "expansion": "Italian Ora"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "Cora",
      "Cora#English"
    ],
    [
      "Dora",
      "Dora#English"
    ],
    [
      "Nora",
      "Nora#English"
    ],
    [
      "Aurelia",
      "Aurelia#English"
    ],
    [
      "Ora Lee",
      "Ora Lee#English"
    ],
    [
      "Aura Lea",
      "Aura Lea#English"
    ],
    [
      "Ora",
      "Ora#Italian"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "A diminutive of the female given name Aurelia, from Latin, variant of Aura. Mainly used in the U.S.A. in the latter half of the 19th century.",
        "A surname",
        "Alternative spelling of Auer (“German spelling”): A commune of South Tyrol, northern Italy (from the Italian spelling)"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable",
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ],
      "recordId": "ecd98b8f71d2b17f5424ea1522db24cb64e228b36dcb59d772ff3b844ce2c0e1",
      "rawRecordSha256": "1b2cf44b6229f53fff7d06609d79c7168d689828d040c3c02e8e1f567cf59743",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 330783
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for Ora →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-T3Jh