# niger
## English
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈnaɪd͡ʒə(ɹ)/

### Noun

niger (uncountable)
* 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: /ˈni.ɡer/, [ˈnɪɡɛr]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈni.d͡ʒer/, [ˈniːd͡ʒer]

### Adjective

niger (feminine nigra, neuter nigrum, superlative nigerrimus); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)
* 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.
* bad; evil; ill-omened

#### Usage notes

* Widely used as a specific epithet.

#### Declension

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

#### 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.
* ↑ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7)‎, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
* ↑ Watkins, Calvert (2000) The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, ‬2nd edition, Houghton Mifflin Co.‬
* ↑ ‪Planta, Robert (2011) Grammatik der Oskisch-Umbrischen Dialekts (in German)‬

### 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: /nîɡer/
* Hyphenation: ni‧ger

### Noun

nȉger m (Cyrillic spelling ни̏гер)
* (slang, derogatory) nigger
    Synonym: cr̀nac

#### Declension
### References

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

## Swedish
### Verb

niger
* present of niga

### Anagrams

* Inger, inger, regin, ringe