A suffix, representing French -ure, Latin -ūra (hence Italian, Spanish, Portuguese -ura), occurring in many words of French or Latin origin. In Latin -ūra primarily denoted action or process, hence result of this, office, etc.; after further development in French, the use was extended in English, and denoted action or process, the result or product of this (e.g. enclosure, figure, picture, scripture), function, state, rank, dignity, or office (e.g. judicature, prefecture, prelature), a collective body (e.g. legislature), that by which the action is effected (e.g. clausure, closure, ligature, nouriture), etc. Many words were adopted from French at an early date, as figure (a1225–), scripture (a1300–), nouriture (c1374–), censure, closure, investiture, juncture, pressure, tonsure (1380–), fissure, scissure (c1400–), etc.; while a few others, as clausure (1398), plicature (1578), mercature (a1620), aperture (1649–), were directly adapted from Latin. The suffix was also added to English stems of Latin origin, giving composure (1599–), disposure (1569–), exposure (1605–), or to true Latin stems, whence vomiture (1598), †beneplaciture (1662), ructure (1657–69), unigeniture (1659–); and was further used with stems of Romance origin, as in †bankrupture (1617–22), †disembogure (1653), †praisure (1622), and with native or other bases, as in †clefture (1545, 1596), †raisure (1613, 1677), and wafture (1601–). To this form various French suffixes (as -eure, -ir, -or, -our) have been assimilated in English, as in pleasure, soilure, †trap(p)ure (trapper n.¹), treasure, velure.

Forming the names of animals which have genus names (or former genus names) ending in -ura or -urus, as conure n., mastigure n., etc.