Where does “niggerous” come from?
niggerous (English) comes from English ous, from English ou, from Afrikaans ou, from Dutch oud, from Middle Dutch out, from Old Dutch ald, from Proto-West Germanic ald, from Proto-Germanic aldaz — to grow, nourish.
Ancestry of “niggerous”, step by step
niggerous traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English ous
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | ous | plural of ou |
| 2 | English | ou | A probably extinct species of Hawaiian... |
| 3 | Afrikaans | ou | An old fellow, guy, bloke; attributive form of... |
| 4 | Dutch | oud | old |
| 5 | Middle Dutch | out | old |
| 6 | Old Dutch | ald | — |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | ald | old |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | aldaz | old, grown up |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂eltós | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂él- | to grow, nourish |
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 |