nigger
Sign in to saveNigger is a racial slur directed at Black people. References to nigger have been increasingly replaced by the euphemistic , notably in cases where nigger is mentioned but not directly used. In an instance of linguistic reappropriation, the term nigger is also used casually and fraternally among African Americans, most commonly in the form of nigga, whose spelling reflects the phonology of African-American English.
Article
22 sectionsContents
- Etymology and history
- Early use
- 18th- and 19th-century United States
- 20th-century United States
- Usage
- In names of people, places and things
- Political use
- Cultural use
- In an academic setting
- In the workplace
- Intra-group versus intergroup usage
- 2010s: Increase in use and controversy
- Related words
- Derivatives
- ''The N-word'' euphemism
- Similar-sounding words
- Denotational extension
- Other languages
- See also
- References
- Sources
- Further reading
Nigger is a racial slur directed at Black people. References to nigger have been increasingly replaced by the euphemistic , notably in cases where nigger is mentioned but not directly used. In an instance of linguistic reappropriation, the term nigger is also used casually and fraternally among African Americans, most commonly in the form of nigga, whose spelling reflects the phonology of African-American English.
The origin of the word lies with the Latin adjective niger ([ˈnɪɡɛr]), meaning "black". It was initially seen as a relatively neutral term, essentially synonymous with the English word negro. Early attested uses during the Atlantic slave trade (16th–19th century) often conveyed a merely patronizing attitude. The word took on a derogatory connotation from the mid-18th century onward, and "degenerated into an overt slur" by the middle of the 19th century. Some authors still used the term in a neutral sense up until the later part of the 20th century, at which point the use of nigger became increasingly controversial, regardless of context or intent of the speaker.