Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

nigger en · NOUN

Pronunciation

nĭgʹər (General-American)
/ˈnɪɡɚ/ (General-American)
/ˈnɪɡə(ɹ)/ (Received-Pronunciation)
(Northern-California) audio
nĭgʹər (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

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).

Meanings

(ethnic, offensive, slur, vulgar) A black person; a person of black African descent.
- Y'all don't quote me on this. You start out in 1954 by saying, "Nigger, nigger, nigger." By 1968 you can't say "nigger"—that hurts you. Backfires. So you say stuff like forced busing, states' rights and all that stuff. You're getting so abstract now [that] you're talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you're talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is [that] blacks get hurt worse than whites. And subconsciously maybe that is part of it. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that if it is getting that abstract, and that coded, that we are doing away with the racial problem one way or the other. You follow me—because obviously sitting around saying, "We want to cut this," is much more abstract than even the busing thing, and a hell of a lot more abstract than "Nigger, nigger." 1981, Rick Perlstein, “Exclusive: Lee Atwater’s Infamous 1981 Interview on the Southern Strategy”, in The Nation, spoken by Lee Atwater, archived from the original on 26 Jan 2025:
- You are not even a nigger, you are an African. 2004, Hotel Rwanda, spoken by Colonel Oliver (Nick Nolte):
- Brothers, you just don't know. If you knew where you were going now, if you knew your chances of coming out with no arm or no eye, fighting those people in their own land, fighting Asian brothers, you got to shoot them, they never lynched you, never called you nigger, never put dogs on you, never shot your leaders. You've got to shoot your "enemies" [...] and as soon as you get home you won't be able to find a job. 1970, “The Black Scholar interviews: Muhammad Ali.”, in The Black Scholar, spoken by Muhammad Ali:
- “Othello with his occupation gone,” she teased. “Othello was a nigger,” I said. 1929, Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 274:
- It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger—but I done it, and I warn't ever sorry for it afterwards, neither. 1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XV, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 133:
- One day our troop was charged with building a monkey bridge, a kind of rope bridge built with logs. As we completed it and admired our work, a troop of white kids passed by and proceeded to call us niggers, shouting that niggers couldn’t build a bridge. 2015 July 23, The Editors, “Your Stories of Racism: An Earlier Era”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 28 Jul 2015:
- In a particularly sad portion of the Wells Report, Jonathan Martin laments being derided as a nigger to his face by Richie Incognito. 2014 March 5, Ta-Nehisi Coates, “Politics and the African-American Human Language”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 12 Mar 2014:
(ethnic, offensive, slang, slur, vulgar) A black person; a person of black African descent. ▸ A person of black African descent who behaves badly or unconventionally (whether the speaker approves or disapproves).
- Blacks stayed at home during the civil rights march. Niggers are the ones that marched. 2010 April 13, Kitty Kelley, quoting an unnamed town resident, Oprah: A Biography, New York, N.Y.: Crown, →ISBN, →OL, page 193:
- See, niggers are followers, blacks normally lead. Niggers call blacks "whitewash" soon as they on the scene. 2008, “The N Word”, in Greydon Square (music), The CPT Theorem:
- ...and as I was leaving it occurred to me. "Hey, hey, Renee, quick question[...] Why is it that I can say the word ‘nigger’ with impunity but I can't say the word ‘faggot’?" And she said, "Because, David, you are not gay." I said, "Well, Renee... I'm not a nigger either." 2021, Dave Chapelle, The Closer:
- There's black people, and there's niggers. And niggers have got to go. Every time black people wanna have a good time, ign'ant-ass niggers fuck it up. 1996, Chris Rock: Bring the Pain, Chris Rock (actor):
(ethnic, offensive, slur, vulgar) A member of any typically dark-skinned people (now especially in combinations like prairie nigger or sand nigger).
- "The public have taken no interest in the matter up to now, but this letter of Challenger's in the Times will make them wake up, I'm thinking." "And this about Sumatra?" "Well, it's a long cry from a blurred line in a spectrum to a sick nigger in Sumatra. And yet the chiel has shown us once before that he knows what he's talking about." 1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
- Besides, where are you going to find a rajah who doesn’t understand Bank of England notes? These niggers aren’t savages, not by any means. Why, lots of them have been to Oxford. 1932, Dorothy L. Sayers, Have His Carcase:
- [H]e commenced to kill Indians. We needed no second invitation. God it was a butchery. At the first fire we killed a round dozen and we did not let up. Before the last poor nigger reached the bottom of the slope there was fifty-eight of them lay slaughtered among the gravels. They just slid down the slope like chaff down a hopper, some turned this way, some that, and they made a chain about the base of the mountain 1985, Cormac McCarthy, “Chapter 10”, in blood Meridian, Random House, →ISBN, →OCLC:
- He never lost his appetite - He bigger grew and bigger; And proved, with every inch of height, A nigger is a nigger. 1880 June 19, Henry Kendall, “My Piccaninny”, in The Australian Town and Country Journal, page 28, column 4:
- Many of the rank and file had no better conception of the proud and sensitive Maori than was implied in the degrading ‘nigger’ theory, invariably applied by the unthinking Briton to all coloured races. 1902, George Stoddart Whitmore, The Last Maori War in New Zealand..., page vi:
- At Crescent Lake in Oneida County, Hubert Locke, who is black and serves as the Dean of the University of Washington's School of Public Affairs, was confronted with words to the effect of, "Now the Commission has a nigger working for them" and "I guess there are two kinds of niggers—red niggers and black niggers"[...] These blatant manifestations of racism directed toward Mr. Locke serve to illustrate the racist attitudes experienced daily by tribal members. 1988, James H. Schlender, quotee, “Written Testimony of James H. Schlender, Executive Administrator, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, May 18, 1988”, in Anti-Indian Violence: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundredth Congress, second session, May 4 and 18, 1988, Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, published 1989, →OCLC, page 197:
(qualifier:African-American Vernacular) A friend, particularly a fellow black person (often as an informal term of address).
- “Snoop Dog!” one of them yelled. “That’s my nigga from Long Beach, man.” 1997, McKinley Lee, Chosen by Fate: My Life inside Death Row Records, →ISBN:
- I had overheard him greet a buddy who called him on the phone with "Yo, nigger, what's up?" 2002 January 13, Earl Ofari Hutchinson, “"Loaded Language", a review of Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word by Randall Kennedy”, in Washington Post, page BW06:
- I wonna say whassup to all my Niggers, you know, peace and one love. 2001 Autumn-Winter, Awad Ibrahim, quoting ‘Sam’, “Hey, whadap homeboy?”, in Taboo, page 94:
(figuratively, qualifier:especially African-American Vernacular; otherwise offensive; especially African-American Vernacular; otherwise offensive) A person of any kind (particularly as a term of abuse).
- People be surprised. I have friends who're all kinds a letters. Everybody loves me an' I love everybody. I got friends who are Ls, I got friends who are Bs, and I got friends who are Gs. But the Ts hate my fucking guts. And I don't blame 'em! It's not their fault. It's mine. I can't stop tellin' jokes about these niggas. 2021, Dave Chapelle, The Closer:
(especially, in comparisons, offensive) A member of a group that is oppressed or marginalized in the manner of black people.
- It's time for somebody to lead all of America's Niggers," he said at the Capitol Hill press conference when Shirley Chisholm announced she was running for president, "and by this I mean the Young, the Black, the Brown, the Women, the Poor—all the people who feel left out of the political process. If we can put the Nigger Vote together, we can bring about some real change in this country." 1972, Ron Dellums, Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, →ISBN, page 58:
- Woman is the nigger of the world / Yes, she is / If you don’t believe me, take a look at the one you’re with / Woman is the slave to the slaves 1972, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, “Woman Is the Nigger of the World”, in Some Time in New York City:
- The governor made it into office by campaigning against the niggers. And people should understand who the niggers are. It's the elderly one week. Then it's those on public assistance. Now he sees women as niggers, and he's trying to do them in. 1979 April 14, Jil Clark, Mel King, King Axes Women's Commission, page 1:
(offensive) Any of various dark animals: ▸ Any member of species Girella tricuspidata (luderick).
(dated, offensive) Any of various dark animals: ▸ A dark brown nymphalid butterfly, Orsotriaena medus, of south Asia, southeast Asia, and Australia.
- Nigger (Male) Orsotriaena medus moira Waterhouse and Lyell. 1914. 1932, Gustavus Athol Waterhouse, What Butterfly is That?: A Guide to the Butterflies of Australia, page 112:
- The Nigger is a common butterfly in Singapore and can be found in the company of bush browns. 2010, Khew Sin Khoon, A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Singapore, page 69:
(Cornwall, UK, archaic, offensive) Any of various dark animals: ▸ A kind of sea cucumber, Holothuria forskali, the cotton-spinner.
(archaic, offensive) Any of various dark animals: ▸ The larva of the turnip sawfly, an agricultural pest.
- To this group belongs the nigger, or black caterpillar of the turnip, which is often in sufficient numbers to do much mischief. 1873, Nature, volume 7, page 448:
(archaic) An impurity in the covering of an electrical conductor which serves to make a partial short circuit, and thus becomes sufficiently heated to burn and destroy the insulation.
- Now to locate the portion of the machine which contains the "nigger." 1892, Western Electrician, volume 11, page 72:
(archaic) A strong iron-bound timber with sharp teeth or spikes protruding from its front face, forming part of the machinery of a sawmill, and used in canting logs, etc.
- The word “nigger” means to the backwoodsman a small log placed when blazing, across large logs to fire them; by tending the fire so made, large logs are divided more quickly than by an ax—consequently “a nigger in a woodpile” means something which destroys it and not, as I had supposed, our African brother. [1919, Laura Fletcher Hodges, Early Indianapolis, page 16:
- A sawyer will come along and be touted and recommended as the best in the country when his chief qualifications will be his ability to jerk the carriage back and forth in a hurry without striking the bumper or to turn the log with the nigger […] 1918, Leonard L. Shertzer, How to Build and Operate a Sawmill, page 20:
(US, archaic) A steam-capstan on some Mississippi river boats, used to haul the boat over bars and snags by a rope fastened to a tree on the bank.
- Well, it's a big heavy line, and you operate the nigger — capstan it's also called — by steam. You wrap your line around that and keep taking in the slack, and that draws up them things. 1983, Goldenseal, volume 9, page 20:
(dated) A black screen used in conjunction with the camera to block light or produce special lighting effects.
- Care should be taken to check visually from the position occupied by the subject and from the camera also, to ascertain that the nigger is positioned correctly and does not obstruct the picture area. 1961, Peter Snow, Electronic Flashlight Photography, page 114:

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
nigga		alternative, pronunciation-spelling	lexicographic
niggah		alternative, pronunciation-spelling	lexicographic
nr		alternative	lexicographic
n-word		alternative, euphemistic	lexicographic
niggers	Number=Plur		lexicographic
nigguh		alternative, pronunciation-spelling	lexicographic

Translations (119)

fa سیاه سوخته (black person (derogatory)) · tr zenci (black person (derogatory)) · ja 黒んぼ (black person (derogatory)) · haw nika (black person (derogatory)) · az zənci (black person (derogatory)) · de Kafferin (black person (derogatory)) · pt macaco (black person (derogatory)) · fr nègre (black person (derogatory)) · nan-hbl 烏張飛 /乌张飞 (black person (derogatory)) · et neeger (black person (derogatory)) · cmn 尼哥 (black person (derogatory)) · io nigracho (black person (derogatory)) · el αράπης (black person (derogatory)) · ka ზანგი (black person (derogatory)) · ru черножо́пый (black person (derogatory)) · pl czarnuch (black person (derogatory)) · ur حبشن (black person (derogatory)) · ar عَبْد (black person (derogatory)) · et pigi (black person (derogatory)) · hi हब्शी (black person (derogatory)) · de Negerin (black person (derogatory)) · de Nigger (black person (derogatory)) · nb svarting (black person (derogatory)) · ru негрито́ска (black person (derogatory)) · yi שוואַרצע (black person (derogatory)) · ru ни́ггер (black person (derogatory)) · es mona (black person (derogatory)) · nn svarting (black person (derogatory)) · es negrillo (black person (derogatory)) · tr marsık (black person (derogatory)) · es negro de mierda (black person (derogatory)) · fi nekru (black person (derogatory)) · ko 검둥이 (black person (derogatory)) · de Niggerin (black person (derogatory)) · ro negrotei (black person (derogatory)) · bal ٹینگ (black person (derogatory)) · eo nigrulaĉino (black person (derogatory)) · es negrote (black person (derogatory)) · fi laku (black person (derogatory)) · es negrilla (black person (derogatory)) · da abekat (black person (derogatory)) · fa کاکا سیاه (black person (derogatory)) · yi שוואַרצער (black person (derogatory)) · ar زِنْجِيّ (black person (derogatory)) · ru негрито́с (black person (derogatory)) · de Neger (black person (derogatory)) · es negrito (black person (derogatory)) · ur کالا (black person (derogatory)) · es negra (black person (derogatory)) · vi mọi đen (black person (derogatory)) · ru чернома́зая (black person (derogatory)) · nb sotrør (black person (derogatory)) · hi हब्शन (black person (derogatory)) · az kürdəmirli (black person (derogatory)) · es negrita (black person (derogatory)) · fr bougnoule (black person (derogatory)) · ur کلو (black person (derogatory)) · de Kaffer (black person (derogatory)) · da nigger (black person (derogatory)) · sv neger (black person (derogatory)) · ur کالی (black person (derogatory)) · hu feka (black person (derogatory)) · fa غلام سیاه (black person (derogatory)) · eo nigrulaĉo (black person (derogatory)) · sv svarting (black person (derogatory)) · cmn 黑鬼 (black person (derogatory)) · nan-hbl 烏鬼 /乌鬼 (black person (derogatory)) · fi lakupetteri (black person (derogatory)) · cs negr (black person (derogatory)) · ru чернома́зый (black person (derogatory)) · fi neekeri (black person (derogatory)) · nl roetmop (black person (derogatory)) · sq zezak (black person (derogatory)) · hu néger (black person (derogatory)) · el αραπίνα (black person (derogatory)) · es negraso (black person (derogatory)) · is negri (black person (derogatory)) · ja 黒奴 (black person (derogatory)) · bal ٹیہہ (black person (derogatory)) · ur حبشی (black person (derogatory)) · nl nikker (black person (derogatory)) · sv nigger (black person (derogatory)) · hi कालू (black person (derogatory)) · yue 黑鬼 (black person (derogatory)) · it negra (black person (derogatory)) · de Mohr (black person (derogatory)) · bg манга́л (black person (derogatory)) · es mayate (black person (derogatory)) · pl asfalt (black person (derogatory)) · fr négresse (black person (derogatory)) · ru чёрный (black person (derogatory)) · it negro (black person (derogatory)) · lv nēģeriete (black person (derogatory)) · ur کالو (black person (derogatory)) · nl neger (black person (derogatory)) · hy նեգր (black person (derogatory)) · sk neger (black person (derogatory)) · de Bimbo (black person (derogatory)) · es negrata (black person (derogatory)) · lv nēģeris (black person (derogatory)) · pt crioulo (black person (derogatory)) · fi lakupekka (black person (derogatory)) · ar أَسْوَد (black person (derogatory)) · he כּוּשִׁי (black person (derogatory)) · ko 깜둥이 (black person (derogatory)) · es gorila (black person (derogatory)) · bg не́гър (black person (derogatory)) · pt preto (black person (derogatory)) · he כושון (black person (derogatory)) · tr gündüz feneri (black person (derogatory)) · ar زَنْجِيّ (black person (derogatory)) · ja ニガー (black person (derogatory)) · es mono (black person (derogatory)) · fr négro (black person (derogatory)) · pl bambus (black person (derogatory)) · de Mohrin (black person (derogatory)) · mk црнец (black person (derogatory)) · ro cioară (black person (derogatory)) · es negro (black person (derogatory))

nigger en · VERB

Pronunciation

nĭgʹər (General-American)
/ˈnɪɡɚ/ (General-American)
/ˈnɪɡə(ɹ)/ (Received-Pronunciation)
(Northern-California) audio
nĭgʹər (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Meanings

(dated, transitive) To clear land by laying light pieces of round timber across the trunks of the trees and setting fire to them at the point of contact, by which means the trees are slowly burned through.
- This means subduing and taming the forest itself—the central drama of The Fields—performing the hard labor of hacking the trees and “niggering” and burning the butts in order to get to the rich black soil underneath. 1980, Elaine Hedges, William Hedges, Land and imagination: the rural dream in America, Hayden Book Co., page 69:
- The operation was this: they placed smaller logs and dry rubbish across the log and applied fire to them; this was called “niggering”. 1914, Indiana State Teachers Association, Readings in Indiana history, Indiana University, History Section, page 171:
- All day long his axe rang through the frosty air as he felled saplings for the fence and stripped them from fuel for the “niggering” fires. 1956, Joseph Kirkland, Zury: the meanest man in Spring County: a novel of western life, University of Illinois Press, page 40:
- […] he resorted to the practice of “niggering,” as it is called: which is simply laying light pieces of round timber across the trunks of the trees and setting fire to them at the point of contact; by which means the trees are slowly burned through. 1844, J. W. Dunbar Moodie, “The Ould Dhragoon; or, a visit to the beaver meadow”, in Literary garland, volume 2, Lovell & Gibson, page 360:
(dated, transitive) To exhaust (soil) by cropping it year by year without manure.
(intransitive, offensive) To perform in blackface.
- There is a general agreement that niggering took over from mummering to keep up the old custom. 1976, Cake and Cockhorse, volume 7, page 220:
(intransitive, offensive) To behave as a stereotypical black person.
- Forrest’s rediscovery of his father coincides with his discovery that old Robinson’s “niggering around” produced at least one child of mixed race. 2007, George Hovis, Vale of Humility: Plain Folk in Contemporary North Carolina Fiction, Univ of South Carolina Press, page 86:
- His father said, “Niggering, I was niggering about. You knew that surely.” 1989, Reynolds Price, The surface of earth, Ballantine Books, page 120:
- I mean he was niggering. Niggering out, grabbing at my leg and microphone cord. I said, ‘Stop that you damn nigger!’ and that takes guts! 2008, Joe Ambrose, Gimme Danger: The Story Of Iggy Pop, Music Sales Group:
(offensive, transitive, uncommon) To treat as inferior.
- Why would many Paletinians^([sic]) want to return to a land where they would be "niggered" for the benefit of the Israelis as the present Palestinian population is[?] 2003 July 16, “Mob Attacks Palestinian Pollsters Who Told The Truth”, in soc.retirement (Usenet):
- > He is on TV saying that he was "abused" by the police and treated like a nigger. 1999 December 3, Jeff Welch, “Who is McGuyver and why was he "niggered"?”, in seattle.general, December 3 (Usenet):
- The gated community is a powerful tool in the systematic and sustained niggering of local 3rd-world communities - namely, in the book, the Hispanic (mostly wetbacK^([sic])) community[.] 1997 January 18, Joe Frisch, “Anglo-US relations under a Blair Government”, in uk.org.mensa (Usenet):

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
niggah		alternative, pronunciation-spelling	lexicographic
niggering	Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part		lexicographic
niggers	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres		lexicographic
n-word		alternative, euphemistic	lexicographic
niggered	Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part		lexicographic
niggered	Tense=Past		lexicographic
nr		alternative	lexicographic
nigga		alternative, pronunciation-spelling	lexicographic
nigguh		alternative, pronunciation-spelling	lexicographic

Dictionary

nigger en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Etymology

Meanings

Forms

Deriveds

Descendants

Hypernyms

Relateds

Synonyms

Translations (119)

nigger en · VERB

Pronunciation

Etymology

Meanings

Forms