Etymologically
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niger

Etymology and origin of the Latin word niger

History Permalink
Confidence
Unknown
First attested
Plautus

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈnɪ.ɡɛr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈniː.d͡ʒer][1]

Forms

niger (feminine nigra, neuter nigrum, superlative nigerrimus); first/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er)[1]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown.[2][3][4] Wiktionary mentions a possible derivation from Proto-Indo-European *negʷ- (“bare, naked”), if that root also gave Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts (“night”), the source of nox.[1] Watkins also suggested a link with *nekʷ-t- “night”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus, who describes a man with a white body and black eyes.[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant black or dark in colour, of people swarthy or dark-skinned, as Cicero's man with curly hair and a dark face, and of places dark, shadowy, as Horace's black woods of Erymanthus.[4][6] It described storms and dark skies, things black with dirt or soot, and an unhealthily dark colour, as Horace's black tooth.[4] As the colour of death it meant sombre, ill-omened, and figuratively bad or wicked.[4][5] Döderlein says āter is black as the absence of colour, opposed to albus, while niger is black as a colour, the darkest one, opposed to candidus.[7]

In Medieval Latin a niger monachus was a Benedictine, a black monk.[8] It survives in nearly all Romance languages, in Romanian negru, Italian nero, French noir and Spanish negro.[9][1] English negro was borrowed in the 1550s from Spanish or Portuguese negro, and English denigrate in the 1520s from the verb dēnigrāre.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of black eyes.[4][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a dark complexion.[4][3]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of dark woods.[4][3]
  • 1520s – English denigrate is recorded.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Black, dark in colour.[4]
  2. (of persons) Dark-skinned, swarthy.[4]
  3. (of places) Dark, shadowy.[4]
  4. (of storms) Dark, black.[4]
  5. Black with dirt or grime.[4]
  6. Unhealthily dark, discoloured.[4]
  7. Associated with death, sombre.[4]

Word family

  • nigellus
  • nigrēdō
  • nigrefacio
  • nigreō
  • nigricō
  • nigricolor
  • nigricolus
  • nigrifico
  • nigritiēs
  • nigritūdō
  • nigrō
  • nigror
  • āter
  • English denigrate
  • English negro

Usage notes

Niger was also a Roman surname, as Aquilius Niger in Suetonius, and the name of a river in Africa.[6][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
  10. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
Cite this entry

“Niger.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/niger. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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