Where does “chigger” come from?
chigger (English) comes from English nigger, from English neger, from French nègre, from Spanish negro, from Latin nigrum, from Latin niger, from Proto-Indo-European nókʷts, from Proto-Indo-European negʷ- — bare, naked.
chigger (English): A chigoe (Tunga penetrans), a kind of flea found in tropical climates
Definitions
- A chigoe (Tunga penetrans), a kind of flea found in tropical climates
Ancestry of “chigger”, step by step
chigger traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via English nigger
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | nigger | A black person; a person of black African... |
| 2 | English | neger | Synonym of nigger |
| 3 | French | nègre | negro; ghostwriter; friend, buddy |
| 4 | Spanish | negro | black; a black person; ghost writer |
| 5 | Latin | nigrum | masculine accusative singular of niger; neuter... |
| 6 | Latin | niger | wan, shining black; bad; evil; ill-omened |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | nókʷts | night |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | negʷ- | bare, naked |
via English Chink
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Chink | A person of perceived Chinese ethnicity; Chinese,... |
| 2 | Middle English | chine | — |
| 3 | Old English | ċine | a crack, chine, chink |
| 4 | Swahili | kinu | mortar |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | kinō | A split; crack; A germ; sprout |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵi-n- | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵey- | to split; divide; germinate; sprout; to split;... |