Where does “prairie nigger” come from?
prairie nigger (English) comes from English prairie, from French prairie, from Old French praerie, from Portuguese prataria, from Portuguese prata, from Old Portuguese prata, from Vulgar Latin platta, from Latin plattus — flat.
prairie nigger (English): A Native American person, especially one from the...
Definitions
- A Native American person, especially one from the...
Ancestry of “prairie nigger”, step by step
prairie nigger traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English prairie
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | prairie | An extensive area of relatively flat grassland... |
| 2 | French | prairie | meadow, grassland, pasture, prairie |
| 3 | Old French | praerie | meadow |
| 4 | Portuguese | prataria | silverware; cutlery; plates, dishes collectively |
| 5 | Portuguese | prata | silver; one hundred cents of current currency... |
| 6 | Old Portuguese | prata | silver |
| 7 | Vulgar Latin | platta | metal plate |
| 8 | Latin | plattus | flattened |
| 9 | Ancient Greek | πλατύς | wide, broad; flat, level; broad-shouldered |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | pléth₂us | flat, broad |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | pleth₂- | flat |
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 |