niger

See also: Niger and Níger

English

niger, Guizotia abyssinica

Etymology

From the name of the Niger River, from Latin Nigris. See further etymology at Niger.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnaɪd͡ʒə(ɹ)/

Noun

niger (uncountable)

1. An Ethiopian herb, Guizotia abyssinica, grown for its seed and edible oil.

   Synonyms: noog, noug, nug

References

• “Niger, n.2.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2003.

Anagrams

• re-nig, Reign, Negri, reign, ringe, renig, Grine, Reing, Grein, nigre

Latin

Alternative forms

• nigrus

Etymology

Uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *negʷ- (“bare, naked”) if this root is assumed also to be the source of *nókʷts (“night”) (Latin nox), thus “black” would attest the intermediate meaning between “bare” and “night”. Possibly cognate with Umbrian niru (“(possibly) dark, black”), though this form (thought to be accusative singular) is not mentioned in de Vaan.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈnɪ.ɡɛr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈniː.d͡ʒer]

Adjective

niger (feminine nigra, neuter nigrum, superlative nigerrimus); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)

1. wan, shining black (as opposed to āter, dull black)

   Nigrum in candida vertere.

   To turn black into white.

   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:niger.
2. bad; evil; ill-omened

Usage notes

• Widely used as a specific epithet.

Declension

First/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er).

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	niger	nigra	nigrum		nigrī	nigrae	nigra
genitive	nigrī	nigrae	nigrī		nigrōrum	nigrārum	nigrōrum
dative	nigrō	nigrae	nigrō		nigrīs
accusative	nigrum	nigram	nigrum		nigrōs	nigrās	nigra
ablative	nigrō	nigrā	nigrō		nigrīs
vocative	niger	nigra	nigrum		nigrī	nigrae	nigra

Synonyms

• (black): fuscus

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “shining white”): candidus

Derived terms

• nigellus
• nigritia
• subniger

Descendants

• Balkan Romance:
  • Aromanian: negru, negur, neguru
  • Istro-Romanian: negru
  • Megleno-Romanian: negru
  • Romanian: negru
• Italo-Romance:
  • Corsican: negru, neru
  • Italian: negro, nero
  • Neapolitan: niro
  • Sicilian: nìuru, niuru, nivuru
• North Italian:
  • Gallo-Italic:
    • Emilian: naigher
    • Ligurian: neigro
    • Lombard: negar, negher
    • Piedmontese: neir, négher
    • Romagnol: négar, nìgar
  • Friulian: neri
  • Istriot: nìgro, nìgaro
  • Ladin: neigher
  • Romansch: nair, neir, ner, negher
  • Venetan: nero
    • → Dalmatian: niar
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal: nêr
  • Old French: noir, neir
    • Champenois: nor
    • Middle French: noir (see there for further descendants)
    • Norman: nièr, né, naer, nei
    • Walloon: noer
• Occitano-Romance:
  • Catalan: negre
    • → Aragonese: negre
  • Gascon: nere
  • Old Occitan: negre, ner, neir
    • Occitan: negre, ner, nèir
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Aragonese: negro
  • Old Leonese: [Term?]
    • Asturian: negru, ñegru, nigru, ñiegru
    • Extremaduran: negru
    • Leonese: negru
    • Mirandese: negro
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: negro
    • Galician: negro
    • Portuguese: negro
      • Papiamentu: negru
  • Spanish: negro (see there for further descendants)
• Borrowings:
  • → Ido: nigra
  • → Interlingua: nigre

See also

Colors in Latin · colōrēs (layout · text)

albus, candidus, subalbus, niveus, cēreus, marmoreus, eburneus, cānus, blancus (ML.)	glaucus, rāvus, pullus, cinereus, cinerāceus, plumbeus, grīseus (ML. or NL.)	niger, āter, piceus, furvus
ruber, rūbidus, rūfus, rubicundus, russus, rubrīcus, pūniceus, murrinus, mulleus; cocceus, coccīnus, badius	rutilus, armeniacus, aurantius, aurantiacus; fuscus, suffuscus, colōrius, cervīnus, spādīx, castaneus, aquilus, fulvus, brunneus (ML.)	flāvus, sufflāvus, flāvidus, fulvus, lūteus, gilvus, helvus, croceus, pallidus, blondinus (ML.)
galbus, galbinus, lūridus	viridis	prasinus
cȳaneus	caeruleus, azurīnus (ML.), caesius, blāvus (LL.)	glaucus; līvidus; venetus
violāceus, ianthinus, balaustīnus (NL.)	ostrīnus, amethystīnus	purpureus, ātropurpureus, roseus, rosāceus

References

• Buchi, Éva, Schweickard, Wolfgang (2008–) “*/ˈnɪɡr-u/”, in Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman, Nancy: Analyse et Traitement Informatique de la Langue Française.

Further reading

• “niger”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “niger”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• niger in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “niger”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “niger”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From English nigger.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nîɡer/
• Hyphenation: ni‧ger

Noun

nȉger m (Cyrillic spelling ни̏гер)

1. (slang, derogatory) nigger

   Synonym: cr̀nac

Declension

Declension of niger

	singular	plural
nominative	niger	nigeri
genitive	nigera	nigera
dative	nigeru	nigerima
accusative	niger	nigere
vocative	nigere	nigeri
locative	nigeru	nigerima
instrumental	nigerem	nigerima

References

• “niger”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Swedish

Verb

niger

1. present of niga

Anagrams

• Inger, inger, regin, ringe