undulate, undulated, undulating, undulates.verbs
transitive verb use.to cause to move in a smooth wavelike motion; to give a wavelike appearance or form to
intransitive verb use.to move in waves or with a smooth, wavelike motion; swing; to have a wavelike appearance or form; to increase and decrease in volume or pitch as if in waves
undulate, undulatory.adjectives
having a wavy outline or appearance (leaves with undulate margins)
undulation.noun,.plural.undulations
a regular rising and falling or movement to alternating sides; movement in waves; a wave like form, outline or appearance; one of a series of waves or wavelike segments

unsound, unsoundest, unsounder.adjectives
not dependably strong or solid; not physically or mentally healthy (unsoundness of mind typical of dumb ass parents); not true or logically valid; fallacious  (an unsound conclusion); if a way, function, method or conclusion is unsound, it is based on ideas that are wrong using the criterion of love, which is exemplified in the golden rule; if you say that something is unsound in some way, you mean that it is damaging in that way or to the thing mentioned (the project is environmentally unsound); if a building or other structure is unsound, it is in poor condition and is likely to collapse; not based on facts or reasons beneficial to all affected (public banks have been proven sound, whereas private ones have a history of unsoundness; ideologically, scientifically, ecologically etc. unsound)
unsoundly.adverb
unsoundness.noun,.plural.unsoundnesses

ubiquitous.adjective
being or seeming to be everywhere at the same time; omnipresent; a quality of the Creator along with omnipotent and omnicient
ubiquitously.adverb
ubiquitousness.noun,.plural.ubiquitousnesses

unanimous.adjective
based on or characterized by complete assent or agreement; sharing the same opinions or views; being in complete harmony or accord.(all 12 of the judges had determined exactly the same)
unanimously.adverb
unanimousness.noun.(many words ending in 'ess' are usually without pluralization - adding an 'es' making '...esses' can make the word be clumsy)
the condition of being unanimous
unanimity.noun,.plural.unanimities
the condition of being unanimous

uncouth.adjective
crude; not couth; unrefined; awkward or clumsy; not graceful
uncouthly.adverb
uncouthness.noun,.plural.uncouthnesses

unfathomable.adjective
difficult or impossible to have an innerstanding of; incomprehensible.(unfathomable theories); difficult or impossible to measure (the unfathomable depths)

ultraviolet.adjective
of or relating to the range of invisible radiation wavelengths from about 4 nanometers, on the border of the x-ray region, to about 380 nanometers, just beyond the violet in the visible spectrum
ultraviolet.noun,.plural.ultraviolets
ultraviolet light or the ultraviolet part of the spectrum

uncertainty principle.proper noun
a principle in quantum mechanics formulated in 1927 by the German physicist Werner Heisenberg holding that increasing the accuracy of measurement of one observable quantity increases the uncertainty with which other quantities may be known ...more

understatement.noun,.plural.understatements
a disclosure or statement that is less than complete; restraint or lack of emphasis in expression, as for rhetorical effect; restraint in artistic expression
understate, understated, understating, understates.verbs
transitive verb use.to state with less completeness or truth than seems warranted by the facts; to express with restraint or lack of emphasis, especially ironically or for rhetorical effect; to state (a quantity, for example) that is too low (understate corporate financial worth)
intransitive verb use.to give an understatement

Ur.noun
A city close to ancient Babylon in Mesopotamia which was known as the port of Babylonia, whence trade was carried on with the dwellers on the gulf and with the distant countries of India, Ethiopia and Egypt. It was abandoned about B.C.E. 500, but continued to be a great sacred cemetery city, as is evident from the number of tombs found there. 

Comprised with information from Encyclopedia Britannia provided by Sir Leonard Woolley Ed., archaeologist; excavated at Ur, 1922–34 and many other sites. Major contributor to knowledge of the Sumerians. Author of Digging Up the Past; Excavations at Ur and others.

The modern name of Ur is Tall al-Muqayyar or Tell el-Muqayyar, Iraq.

Ur was an important city of ancient southern Mesopotamia (Sumer), situated about 140 miles (225 km) southeast of the site of Babylon and about 10 miles (16 km) west of the present bed of the Euphrates River. In antiquity the river ran much closer to the city; the change in its course has left the ruins in a desert that once was irrigated and fertile land. The first serious excavations at Ur were made after World War I by H.R. Hall of the British Museum and as a result a joint expedition was formed by the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania that carried on the excavations under Leonard Woolley's directorship from 1922 until 1934. Almost every period of the city's lifetime has been illustrated by the discoveries and knowledge of Mesopotamian history has been greatly enlarged.

Foundation of the city
At some time in the B.C.E. 4th millennium, the city was founded by settlers thought to have been from northern Mesopotamia. There is evidence that their occupation was ended by a flood, thought to be the one described in Genesis. From the succeeding 'Jamdat Nasr' (Late Protoliterate) phase, a large cemetery produced valuable remains allied to more sensational discoveries made at Erech, an ancient Mesopotamian city located northwest of Ur (today called Tall Al-Muqayyar) in southeastern Iraq (map of Iraq and Iran).

Ur in the early dynastic period, B.C.E. 29th–24th century.

In the next, the Early Dynastic period, Ur became the capital of the whole of southern Mesopotamia under the Sumerian kings of the 1st dynasty of Ur (B.C.E. 25th century). Excavation of a vast cemetery from the period preceding that dynasty (26th century) produced royal tombs containing almost incredible treasures in gold, silver, bronze and semiprecious stones, showing not only the wealth of the people of Ur but also their highly developed civilization and art. Not the least remarkable discovery was that of the custom whereby kings were buried along with a whole retinue of their court officials, servants and women, privileged to continue their service in the next world. Musical instruments from the royal tombs, golden weapons, engraved shell plaques and mosaic pictures, statuary and carved cylinder seals, all are a collection of unique importance, illustrating a civilization previously unknown to the historian. A further development of it or perhaps a different aspect, was shown by the excavation at a suburb of Ur, of a small temple also of a type previously unsuspected, richly decorated with statuary, mosaics and metal reliefs and having columns sheathed with coloured mosaic or polished copper. The inscribed foundation tablet of the temple, stating that it was the work of a king of the 1st dynasty of Ur, dated the building and proved the historical character of a dynasty that had been mentioned by ancient Sumerian historians but that modern scholars had previously dismissed as fictitious.

A few personal inscriptions confirmed the real existence of the almost legendary ruler Sargon I, king of Akkad, who reigned in B.C.E. the 24th century and a cemetery illustrated the material culture of his time.

Third dynasty of Ur, B.C.E. 22nd–21st century

To the next period, that of the 3rd dynasty of Ur, when Ur was again the capital of an empire, belong some of the most important architectural monuments preserved on the site. Foremost among these is the ziggurat, a three-storied solid mass of mud brick, faced with burnt bricks set in bitumen, rather like a stepped pyramid. On its summit was a small shrine, the bedchamber of the moon God Nanna (also known as Sin), the patron deity and divine king of Ur. The lowest stage measures at its foot some 210 by 150 feet (64 by 46 metres) and its height was about 40 feet. On three sides the walls, relieved by shallow buttresses, rose sheer. On the northeast face were three great staircases, each of 100 steps, one projecting at right angles from the centre of the building, two leaning against its wall and all three converging in a gateway between the first and the second terrace. From this a single flight of steps led upward to the top terrace and to the door of the God's little shrine. The lower part of the ziggurat, built by Ur-Nammu, the founder of the dynasty, was astonishingly well preserved; enough of the upper part survived to make the restoration certain.

The excavations showed that by B.C.E. the 3rd millennium Sumerian architects were acquainted with the column, the arch, the vault and the dome with all the basic forms of architecture. The ziggurat exhibited its refinements. The walls all sloped inward and their angle, together with the carefully calculated heights of the successive stages, leads the eye inward and upward; the sharper slope of the stairways accentuates that effect and fixes attention on the shrine, the religious focus of the whole huge structure. Surprisingly, there is not a single straight line in the structure. Each wall, from base to top and horizontally from corner to corner, is a convex curve, a curve so slight as not to be apparent but giving to the eye of the observer an illusion of strength where a straight line might have seemed to sag under the weight of the superstructure. The architect thus employed the principle of entasis, which was to be rediscovered by the builders of the Parthenon at Athens.

Succeeding dynasties, B.C.E. 21st–6th century

The great brick mausoleums of the 3rd-dynasty kings and the temples they built were sacked and destroyed by the Elamites, but the temples at least were restored by the kings of the succeeding dynasties of Isin and Larsa and Ur. Though it ceased to be the capital, it retained its religious and commercial importance. Having access by river and canal to the Persian Gulf, it was the natural headquarters of foreign trade. As early as the reign of Sargon of Akkad it had been in touch with India, at least indirectly. Personal seals of the Indus Valley type from the 3rd dynasty and the Larsa period have been found at Ur, while many hundreds of clay tablets show how the foreign trade was organized. The 'sea kings' of Ur carried goods for export to the entrepôt (a storage and distribution centre) at Dilmun (Bahrain) and there picked up the copper and ivory that came from the east.

The clay tablets were found in the residential quarter of the city, of which a considerable area was excavated. The houses of private citizens in the Larsa period and under Hammurabi of Babylon (circa B.C.E. 18th century), in which period, Abraham has a history at Ur. The houses then were comfortable and well built two story houses with ample accommodation for the family, for servants and for guests and of a type that ensured privacy and was suited to the climate. In some houses was a kind of chapel in which worship took place and under the pavement of which members of the family were buried.

Many large state temples were excavated, as were some small wayside shrines dedicated by private persons to minor deities, the latter throwing a new light upon Babylonian religious practices; but the domestic chapels, with their provision for worship are yet more interesting and have a possible relation to that of the Hebrew patriarchs.

After a long period of relative neglect, Ur experienced a revival in the Neo-Babylonian period, under Nebuchadrezzar II, who practically rebuilt the city. Scarcely less active was Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon (B.C.E. 556–539), whose great work was the remodelling of the ziggurat, increasing its height to seven stages.

The last phase, B.C.E. 6th–4th century.

The last king to build at Ur was the Achaemenian.Cyrus the Great, whose inscription on bricks is similar to the 'edict' quoted by the scribe Ezra regarding the restoration of the Temple at Jerusalem The conqueror was clearly anxious to placate his new subjects by honouring their Gods, whatever those Gods might be. But Ur was now thoroughly decadent. It survived into the reign of Artaxerxes II, but only a single tablet (of Philip Arrhidaeus, B.C.E. 317) carries on the story. It was perhaps at this time that the Euphrates changed its course and with the breakdown of the whole irrigation system, Ur, its fields reduced to desert, was finally abandoned.

Discoveries made on other sites have supplemented the unusually full record obtained from the Ur excavations. Knowledge of the city's history and of the manner of life of its inhabitants, of their business and of their art is now fairly complete and remarkably detailed.

Additional Reading
J.E. Taylor, Notes on the Ruins of Muqeyer, Jl. R. Asiat. Soc., 15:260–276 (1855)—the ruins of Muqeyer (Tall al-Muqayyar) were later identified as the site of Ur of the Chaldees. H.R. Hall, A Season's Work at Ur (1930); C.J. Gadd, History and Monuments of Ur (1929); C. Leonard Wooley, Excavations at Ur (1954 and 1964) and Ur of the Chaldees (1938); C. Leonard Wooley et al., Ur Excavations, vol. 1–5 and 8–10 (1927–65); C.J. Gadd and L. Legrain et al., Ur Excavations: Texts, vol. 1–5 (1928–53). 

The Ur excavation volumes include reports on the excavations at al-Ubayd (near Ur), the Royal Cemetery (the predynastic and Sargonid graves excavated between 1926 and 1931), archaic seal impressions, the sites and objects prior in date to the 3rd dynasty of Ur, the ziggurat and its surroundings, the Kassite period and the period of the Assyrian kings, the Neo-Babylonian and Persian periods and seal cylinders.

umpteen, umpteenth.adjectives
relatively large but unspecified in number (umpteen reasons; umpteen guests)

upwell, upwelled, upwelling, upwells.intransitive verbs
to rise from a lower or inner source; well up
upwelling.noun,.plural.upwellings
the act or an instance of rising up from or as if from a lower source (an upwelling of emotion); a process in which cold, often nutrient rich waters from the ocean depths rise to the surface

uric acid.noun
a semisolid compound, C₅H₄N₄O₃-(5 parts {molecules}-carbon, 4 parts hydrogen, 4 parts nitrogen, 3 parts oxygen) that is a nitrogenous end product of protein and purine.metabolism.

unbeknownst, unbeknown.adjectives
occurring or existing without the knowledge of; unknown
unbeknownst.adverb
without the knowledge of a specified party

utilitarianism.noun,.plural.utilitarianisms
the belief that the value of a thing or an action is determined by its utility; the ethical theory proposed by Jeremy Bentham and James Mill that actions should be directed toward achieving the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people

utilitarian.adjective
of, relating to or in the interests of utility (utilitarian considerations in industrial design); exhibiting or stressing utility over other values; practical (plain, utilitarian kitchenware); of, characterized by or advocating utilitarianism
utilitarian.noun,.plural.utilitarians
one who advocates or practices utilitarianism

unwitting.adjective
not knowing; if you describe a person or their actions as unwitting, you mean that the person does something or is involved in something without realizing it; unaware (an unwitting subject in an experiment of genetically modified 'food'); not intended; unintentional (an unwitting admission of guilt)
unwittingly.adverb

unsophisticated.adjective
not sophisticated; naive
unsophisticatedly.adverb
unsophisticatedness, unsophistication.nouns

uphold, upheld, upholding, upholds.transitive verbs
to hold aloft; raise (upheld the banner proudly); to prevent from falling or sinking; support; to maintain or affirm against opposition
upholder.noun,.plural.upholders

unseemly, unseemlier, unseemliest.adjectives
not in accord with accepted standards of good taste; grossly improper; not suited to the circumstances; inappropriate
unseemly.adverb
in an improper or inappropriate manner
unseemliness.noun,.plural.unseemlinesses

understand, understood, understanding, understands.verbs
transitive verb use.to stand under something such as a bridge (she loved to go out at night to stand under the stars as she was learning comprehension of them); to submit (authorities often ask if you 'understand' what they want from you, meaning, do you 'stand under' my authority, to which many a reply has been, I overstand what's going on, that is, I see the whole picture as clearly as I can at this time); understand is a standing under, that is, allowing some present knowledge at the time to affect you; replying 'yes' to the request 'do you understand', implies.acceptance of the request and so you have committed yourself to someone's coercion of you regarding approving of any information they want you to accept; innerstanding would be what you may mean, but it's not what the one attempting to coerce you may mean when they ask if you 'understand' them, that being a form of a tricky acceptance procedure; better to avoid this legalese word altogether and use innerstand, which means comprehend; more from the Bible on word 'understand'
understandably.adverb
understandable.adjective
understandability.noun,.plural.understandabilities

understanding.noun,.plural.understandings
one who either by intimidation or coercion is placed under authority of another (the police officer {policy enforcer} said to the lady 'do you understand', meaning 'do you submit to the authority I represent'); the condition of one who understands he is subject to those he or she consents to; if you understand someone or understand what they are saying, you know what they mean, even though the larger picture would provide more information; a compact.implicit between two or more people or groups (we all contributed to an understanding of what we have and put it in this report); the matter implicit in such a compact; a state of agreement (they finally reached an understanding where they all stood under the declared meaning); compare comprehend; a disposition to appreciate or share the feelings and thoughts of others (she stood under the needs of those who were ill, standing ready to help in any way she could); sympathy
understanding.adjective
characterized by or having given consent to
understandingly.adverb

unintelligible.adjective
being such that understanding or comprehension is difficult or impossible; incomprehensible.(unintelligible remarks; an unintelligible prose passage); ancients and the way some of them allegedly.consulted with spirits in order to get advice:.Isaiah 8:19 "And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto wizards that peep and that mutter, should not a people seek unto their God?..."
unintelligibly.adverb
unintelligibility.noun,.plural.unintelligibilities
or.unintelligibleness.noun,.plural.unintelligiblenesses

unintelligent.adjective
having or displaying a lack of intelligence; not invested with intelligence
unintelligence.noun
unintelligently.adverb

unkempt.adjective
not combed (unkempt hair); not properly maintained; disorderly or untidy (an unkempt garden); sloppy; unpolished; rude

undercurrent.noun,.plural.undercurrents
an underlying.tendency, force or influence often contrary to what is superficially.evident; an intimation; a current, as of air or water, below another current or beneath a surface

upshot.noun
the final result; the outcome; the effect

undetermined.adjective
not yet determined; undecided (it remains undetermined where our holiday will be); not specifically known or ascertained (a fire of undetermined origin)

upset, upsetting, upsets.verbs
transitive verb use.to cause to turn or tip over; capsize; to disturb the functioning order or course of (she was upset over negatives in her life, seemingly coming out of nowhere and tripping up the usual course of it); to distress or perturb mentally or emotionally; to overthrow; overturn (upset the boat); to defeat unexpectedly (we never expected the snowstorm to be as bad as it became that we had to postpone traveling)
intransitive verb use.to become overturned; capsize; to become disturbed
upset.noun
the act of upsetting or the condition of being upset; a disturbance, disorder or state of agitation; a game or contest in which the favorite is defeated
upset.adjective
having been overturned; capsized; exhibiting signs and symptoms of indigestion (an upset stomach); in a state of emotional or mental distress; distraught (upset parents; the conversation with her was upsetting because it was both embarrassing and hostile is a sugarcoated way)
upsettingly.adverb
upsetter.noun,.plural.upsetters

unethical.adjective
not ethical (unethical actions eventually caught up with the elected official)

uninvited.adjective
not invited; not welcome or wanted (uninvited guests)

uninviting.adjective
not pleasant or attractive; disagreeable (an uninviting prospect)
uninvitingly.adverb

unwarranted.adjective
having no justification; groundless (unwarranted conduct; unwarranted interference); baseless; having no good reason to be as something appears to be, so there must be a bad reason to be so; done without reason and/or sensibility; if you describe something as unwarranted, you think of it as having no need or reason; unwarranted is the opposite of something being warranted
unwarrantably.adverb
unwarrantable.adjective
not justifiable; inexcusable (unwarrantable criticism)

undifferentiated.adjective
not differentiated

unforeseen.adjective
not felt or realized beforehand; unexpected (unforeseen pleasures for the eye presented to us when we approached the valley)

unexpected.adjective
coming without notice; unforeseen
unexpectedly.adverb
unexpectedness.noun,.plural.unexpectednesses

unicellular.adjective
having or consisting of one cell; one-celled (unicellular organisms such as a dinoflagellate)
unicellularity.noun,.plural.unicellularities