Where does “neger” come from?
neger (German) comes from German Näher, from German -er, from Old High German -āri, from Proto-West Germanic -ārī, from Proto-Germanic -ārijaz, from Latin -ārius, from Proto-Italic *-āzios — Forms relational adjectives to nouns (and rarely numerals).
neger (German): broke, bankrupt
Definitions
- broke, bankrupt
Ancestry of “neger”, step by step
neger traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via German Näher
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | Näher | sewer |
| 2 | German | -er | Forms agent nouns etc. from verbs, suffixed to... |
| 3 | Old High German | -āri | used to form agent nouns |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | -ārī | -er |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -ārijaz | -er |
| 6 | Latin | -ārius | er |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | *-āzios | Forms relational adjectives to nouns (and rarely numerals) |
via French nègre
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | nègre | negro; ghostwriter; friend, buddy |
| 2 | Spanish | negro | black; a black person; ghost writer |
| 3 | Latin | nigrum | masculine accusative singular of niger; neuter... |
| 4 | Latin | niger | wan, shining black; bad; evil; ill-omened |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | nókʷts | night |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | negʷ- | bare, naked |