Jura

//ˈd͡ʒʊɹə// name

name ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A mountain range on the border of France and Switzerland, extending into Germany; in full, Jura Mountains.

    "Occasionally, a sigh of mountain air came from the distant Jura, fading along the plain."

  2. 2
    An island of the Inner Hebrides in Argyll and Bute council area, Scotland.

    "1839, Jura, entry in Thomas Curtis (editor), The London Encyclopaedia, page 275, Between the north end of Jura and the small isle of Skarba there is a famous whirlpool, called Cory-vrekan, from Brecan, son of a king of Denmark, who perished in this gulph."

  3. 3
    A department of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France. Capital: Lons-le-Saunier.
  4. 4
    A canton of Switzerland. Capital: Delémont.

    "This parallel is the Jura conflict. While the cantonal structure in Switzerland largely follows linguistic lines, the predominantly French-speaking Jura had for a long time until recently been a part of the German-speaking canton of Bern."

Example

More examples

"Occasionally, a sigh of mountain air came from the distant Jura, fading along the plain."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From French Jura, perhaps of Celtic origin.

Etymology 2

From Scottish Gaelic Diùra, from Old Norse Dýrey (literally “animal island”).

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.