Where does “noir” come from?

noir (Middle French) comes from Old French noir, from Latin Niger, from Proto-Indo-European negʷ- — bare, naked.

noir (Middle French): black

Definitions

  1. black

Ancestry of “noir”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchnoirblack; black; having a black color
2LatinNigerA Roman agnomen, or "nickname"
3Proto-Indo-Europeannegʷ-bare, naked

Words derived from “noir”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European negʷ- →Every word from Latin Niger →Every word from Old French noir →