nigger

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   extremely offensive racial slur directed at a Black person; included for understanding historical texts, never as a neutral term

   The critical edition warns readers that the novel repeatedly uses the slur nigger in its historical dialogue.

Borrowed through Middle French nègre and Spanish or Portuguese negro ("black"), ultimately from Latin niger. It became a dehumanizing racial slur in English and is now among the language’s most offensive terms; historical occurrence does not make it acceptable neutral usage.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images