niger Latin · revision 6067

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈnɪ.ɡɛr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈniː.d͡ʒer]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

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

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is unknown.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)^(OLD 2012) Wiktionary mentions a possible derivation from [[ine-pro|*negʷ-|t=bare, naked]], if that root also gave [[ine-pro|*nókʷts|t=night]], the source of [[nox]].^(Wiktionary) Watkins also suggested a link with *nekʷ-t- “night”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan dates it from Plautus, who describes a man with a white body and black eyes.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==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.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It described storms and dark skies, things black with dirt or soot, and an unhealthily dark colour, as Horace's black tooth.^(OLD 2012) As the colour of death it meant sombre, ill-omened, and figuratively bad or wicked.^(OLD 2012)^(Etymonline) 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]].^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ In Medieval Latin a ''niger monachus'' was a Benedictine, a black monk.^(Niermeyer 1976) It survives in nearly all Romance languages, in Romanian ''negru'', Italian ''nero'', French ''noir'' and Spanish ''negro''.^(DÉRom)^(Wiktionary) [[en|negro]] was borrowed in the 1550s from Spanish or Portuguese ''negro'', and [[en|denigrate]] in the 1520s from the verb [[m|la|dēnigrō|alt=dēnigrāre]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of black eyes.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a dark complexion.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of dark woods.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1520s – English ''denigrate'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|Black]], dark in colour.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(of persons)'' Dark-skinned, [[m|en|swarthy]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(of places)'' Dark, shadowy.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(of storms)'' Dark, black.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Black with dirt or [[m|en|grime]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # Unhealthily dark, discoloured.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Associated with death, sombre.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[nigellus]]

+ * [[nigrēdō]]

+ * [[nigrefacio]]

+ * [[nigreō]]

+ * [[nigricō]]

+ * [[nigricolor]]

+ * [[nigricolus]]

+ * [[nigrifico]]

+ * [[nigritiēs]]

+ * [[nigritūdō]]

+ * [[nigrō]]

+ * [[nigror]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[āter]]

+ * [[en|denigrate]]

+ * [[en|negro]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Niger'' was also a Roman surname, as Aquilius Niger in Suetonius, and the name of a river in Africa.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}