Link Centre Dictionary

nigger

nig·ger

UK/ˈnɪɡə/ US/ˈnɪɡəɹ/ fairly common slang uk us

noun

1.

(ethnic slur) offensive name for a Black person

  • “only a Black can call another Black a nigga”
Synonyms

Origin

Alteration of earlier neger, from Middle French nègre (“a black person”), from Spanish negro. Ultimately from Latin niger (“black”), thus a doublet of negro and noir. The expected Modern English pronunciation would be with /iː/; compare neger. The modern pronunciation with /ɪ/ may be due to influence from the Latin etymon (compare the older Southern US pronunciation of negro with /ɪ/), but compare the dialectal American pronunciations of eagle and eager as /ˈɪɡəl/ and /ˈɪɡɚ/. Compare Danish neger, Swedish neger, German Neger, Dutch neger. First use appears c. 1577, in the writings of Edward Hellowes (fl. 1574-1601).

Phrases

  • curry nigger
  • Dead Nigger Creek
  • farm nigger
  • field nigger
  • house nigger
  • magic nigger
  • nigger baby
  • nigger chaser

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.