请输入您要查询的英文单词:

 

单词 nigger
释义

niggern.adj.

Brit. /ˈnɪɡə/, U.S. /ˈnɪɡər/
Forms:

α. 1500s– niger (now nonstandard and regional), 1600s nigor, 1700s nigre, 1900s– nigar (Caribbean).

β. 1600s niggor, 1600s– nigger, 1800s niggur, 1800s– nigga U.S. /ˈnɪɡə/, 1800s– niggah, 1800s– niggar, 1900s– niggaz (plural), 1900s– nigguh.

Origin: Probably a variant or alteration of another lexical item; modelled on a Latin lexical item. Etymon: neger n.
Etymology: Probably an alteration of neger n., after classical Latin niger (see niger n.1); compare earlier Nigro n., Nigrite n.1 Compare post-classical Latin niger black person (1582 in a Spanish colonial source). Compare also Swedish †niger (1758), probably a borrowing from English (although this may perhaps represent a borrowing of neger n.).Some early examples of the form niger (especially in learned use) may perhaps represent a direct reborrowing of classical Latin niger black (see niger n.1). Forms in -gg- (see β. forms) are rare before the 19th cent., and the prevalence of a pronunciation with /ɪ/ in the first syllable is therefore hard to establish. However, it seems likely that the form niger (the preferred form up to the end of the 18th cent.) is intended to represent the same pronunciation (as sporadic later examples of this form clearly are). The resurgence of the form nigga (plural often niggaz ) and other forms without final -r in late 20th-cent. use (especially in representations of urban African-American speech) is probably due to its deliberate adoption by some speakers as a distinct word, associated with neutral or positive senses (especially senses A. 1c, A. 4, A. 5, and A. 7); compare quot. 2001 at sense A. 7. Compare gangsta n. and adj. The word was initially used as a neutral term, and only began to acquire a derogatory connotation from the mid 18th cent. onwards (compare sense A. 1b). In standard English usage the word Negro n. had already become the usual neutral term by the end of the 17th cent. For coincidence of the word in some dialects with niggard n. compare γ forms and etymological note at that entry. With the phrase to work like a nigger (see Phrases 1) compare French travailler comme un nègre (1811). The phrase nigger in the woodpile (see Phrases 2b) is said to derive from an incident in the U.S. in the time before the American Civil War when a group of escaped slaves who had been conveyed along the Underground Railroad to Pultneyville, New York State, with a view to crossing Lake Ontario into Canada were enabled to make the final stage from a warehouse in which they were hidden to a boat by means of woodpiles set up across the wharf through which a concealed passage had been constructed (see further N.Y. Folklore Q. (1958) 14 16–25).
This word is one of the most controversial in English, and is liable to be considered offensive or taboo in almost all contexts (even when used as a self-description).
A. n.
I. Senses referring to people.
1. A dark-skinned person of sub-Saharan African origin or descent; = Negro n. 1a.This term is strongly racially offensive when used by a white person in reference to a black person. In written Black English and written representations of spoken Black English, however, there are usually not the same negative connotations. Recently the term has been reclaimed by some black speakers and used with positive connotations in various senses (esp. in the form nigga: see note in etymology, and senses A. 1c, A. 4, and A. 5). However, even among black speakers, use of the word is problematic because of its potential to give offence, as is clear from the following, from a black speaker:
1995 N.Y. Times 14 Jan. i. 7 The prosecutor, his voice trembling, added that the ‘N-word’ was so vile that he would not utter it. ‘It's the filthiest, dirtiest, nastiest word in the English language,’ Mr. Darden said.
See also N-word n.
a. Used by people who are not black as a relatively neutral (or occasionally positive) term, with no specifically hostile intent.Quots. 1608, 1788, etc., expressing patronizing views, reflect underlying attitudes rather than a hostile use of the word itself.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > black person > [noun]
AfriceOE
MoorOE
EthiopOE
blomana1225
Ethiopiana1325
blue mana1387
Moriana1387
black mana1398
blackamoor1525
black Morian1526
black boy1530
molen1538
Nigro1548
Nigrite1554
Negro1555
neger1568
nigger1577
blackfellow1598
Kaffir1607
black1614
thick-lipsa1616
Hubsheea1627
black African1633
blackface1704
sambo1704
Cuffee1713
Nigritian1738
fellow1753
Cuff1755
blacky1759
mungo1768
Quashie1774
darkie?1775
snowball1785
blue skin1788
Moriscan1794
sooterkin1821
nigc1832
tar-brush1835–40
Jim Crow1838
sooty1838
mokec1847
dinge1848
monkey1849
Siddi1849
dark1853
nigre1853
Negroid1860
kink1865
Sam1867
Rastus1882
schvartze1886
race man1896
possum1900
shine1908
jigaboo1909
smoke1913
golliwog1916
jazzbo1918
boogie1923
jig1924
melanoderm1924
spade1928
jit1931
Zulu1931
eight ball1932
Afro1942
nigra1944
spook1945
munt1948
Tom1956
boot1957
soul brother1957
nig-nog1959
member1962
pork chop1963
splib1964
blood1965
non-voter1966
moolinyan1967
Oreo1968
boogaloo1972
pongo1972
moolie1988
1577 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara Familiar Epist. (new ed.) 389 The Massagetes bordering vpon the Indians, and the Nigers of Aethiop [Sp. los negros en Ethiopia], bearing witnesse.
1584 R. Scot Discouerie Witchcraft vii. xv. 153 A skin like a Niger.
1608 A. Marlowe Let. 22 June in E. India Co. Factory Rec. (1896) I. 10 The King and People [of ‘Serro Leona’] Niggers, simple and harmless.
1636 W. Pitt & J. Downham Let. 16 Sept. in Eng. Factories in India 1634–6 (1911) 292 Have granted passages to a Moor and three ‘nigors’.
1656 Duchess of Newcastle Assaulted & Pursued Chastity 237 The Priest which came to fetch him forth, saw him thus drest, never seeing hair before, for they had none but wooll, and very short as Nigers have.
1676 S. Sewall Diary 1 July (1973) I. 18 Jethro, his Niger, was then taken.
a1704 T. Brown Lett. from Dead (new ed.) in Wks. (1707) II. ii. 121 A manner that discover'd he had an ascendency over the rest of the immortal Nigres.
1760 G. Wallace Princ. Law Scotl. in Ann. Reg. (1760) ii. 265/1 Set the Nigers free, and, in a few generations, this vast and fertile continent would be crouded with inhabitants.
1787 R. Burns Ordination iv, in Poems & Songs (1971) 171 How graceless Ham leugh at his Dad, Which made Canaan a niger [rhyme vigour, rigour, tiger].
1788 S. Low Politician Out-witted iii. i. 27 Toupee. By gar, I get de satisfaction! Humphry. He talks as crooked as a Guinea niger.
1833 C. Williams Fall River 184 Some say poor niger hab no shoule. Vel dat I dont know, but dis I know, I got something in my body make me feel tumfortable.
1867 H. Latham Black & White 127 Niggers (they are not ‘coloured persons’ yet in the South) are most artful flatterers.
1897 Outing 29 333/1 What is wanted is a genuine nigger—not a colored person, or an Afro-American, or a darkey—and one who has been there before [i.e. game fishing in Florida].
1931 Good Housek. (U.S. ed.) Dec. 126/1 You might think it funny for me, a white man, to say a nigger is the best preacher I ever heard.
1948 G. Greene Heart of Matter ii. i. 179 A clerk knocked and said, ‘There's a nigger for you, Wilson, with a note.’
1980 R. Rhodes Last Safari i. i. 20 The Kaffir whore and the half-breed toto and the faithful nigger.
1993 in Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. (1996) III. 789/2 I've heard livestock men speak in admiration of a black cowboy and noted rider in the Jordan Valley country simply as ‘Nigger Bill’.
b. Used by people who are not black as a hostile term of abuse or contempt.
ΚΠ
?1775 in F. Moore Songs & Ballads Amer. Revol. (1856) 101 The rebel clowns, oh! what a sight! Too awkward was their figure. 'Twas yonder stood a pious wight, And here and there a nigger.
1811 Ld. Byron in Mem. F. Hodgson (1878) I. 195 The rest of the world—niggers and what not.
1818 H. B. Fearon Sketches Amer. 46 The bad conduct and inferior nature of niggars (negroes).
a1849 H. Coleridge Ess. & Marginalia (1851) I. 164 A similar error has turned Othello..into a rank woolly-pated, thick-lipped nigger.
1861 H. A. Jacobs Incidents Life Slave Girl vii. 59 Do you suppose that I will have you tending my children with the children of that nigger?
1931 D. L. Sayers Five Red Herrings i. 11 Waters,..like all Englishmen, was ready enough to admire and praise all foreigners except dagoes and niggers.
1936 M. Mitchell Gone with the Wind 401 ‘You're a fool nigger, and the worst day's work Pa ever did was to buy you,’ said Scarlett slowly... There, she thought, I've said ‘nigger’ and Mother wouldn't like that at all.
1948 G. Greene Heart of Matter i. i. 3 I hate the place. I hate the people. I hate the bloody niggers. Mustn't call 'em that you know.
1989 Washington Post (Nexis) 16 July d1 A belligerent [police] officer..snarling at me..‘I don't care who you are, nigga, get the hell out of here or I'll arrest you.’
1992 Boston Globe 7 June (Mag.) 4/1 If a white guy gonna call me a nigger, he wants to fight.
2001 Nation (N.Y.) 6 Aug. 21/1 Farther back in the crowd, William..heard a cop say, ‘We'll beat the hell out of you niggers.’
c. Used by black people (esp. African Americans) as a neutral or favourable term.
ΚΠ
1831 H. J. Finn Amer. Comic Ann. 88 ‘You be right dere,’ observed Sambo, ‘..else what fur he go more 'mong niggers den de white trash?’
1838 R. M. Bird Peter Pilgrim I. 238 Wanted to run, massa, but no more run than a barn-door; stuck fast in the mud—could'nt move—all over with niggah!
1848 G. Lippard Paul Ardenheim ii. i. 225 For sixteen—seventeen year, dis nigga watch his time.
1884 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Huckleberry Finn viii. 72 Dey wuz a nigger name' Bob, dat had ketched a wood-flat.
c1937 in N. R. Yetman Voices from Slavery 257 A nigger by name o' Enoch Golden married us.
1949 B. A. Botkin Treasury Southern Folklore p. xxiii In turning his laughter on himself as well as the whites, the Negro has taken over the objectionable word ‘nigger’ (though not ‘darky’) and made it a term of praise or blame.
1971 G. Mitchell Blow my Blues Away 170 Mr. Walter knocked that nigger just as flat, and that nigger knocked Mr. Walter just as flat.
1987 ‘Schoolly D’ Sat. Night (song) in L. A. Stanley Rap: the Lyrics (1992) 280 He rapped so hard that the nigger saw smoke He lit up a cheeba and they both took a toke.
2000 ‘DMX’ in Rolling Stone 13 Apr. 90/1 I wasn't the biggest nigga in the world. I couldn't beat everybody, but..my rep superseded me.
d. Used by black people (esp. African Americans) as a depreciatory term.
ΚΠ
1834 F. Lieber Lett. to Gent. in Germany 90 A negro boy under my window calls a lad of the same race, by way of reproach, ‘nigger’.
1866 Atlantic Monthly July 79 When they call each other ‘nigger’, the familiar term of opprobrium is applied with all the malice of a sting.
1926 C. Van Vechten Nigger Heaven 26 I'm..tired to death of all these Niggers downstairs. [Note] While this informal epithet is freely used by Negroes among themselves, not only as a term of opprobrium, but also actually as a term of endearment, its employment by a white person is always fiercely resented.
1952 J. Lait & L. Mortimer U.S.A. Confidential i. viii. 61 They are outcasts, unwanted even by other Negroes who came before them. These citified blacks resent the new influx and call them ‘niggers’.
1971 Black World Apr. 56 Who the hell you think, nigger?
1998 Village Voice 8 Dec. 51/1 My son was killed by seven black-ass niggers!
2.
a. A person who does menial labour; any person considered to be of low social status. derogatory. Cf. (and earliest in) white nigger n.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > the common people > socially inferior person > [noun] > of any race
nigger1835
the mind > possession > poverty > [noun] > poor person > poor person of any colour
nigger1922
1835 R. M. Bird Hawks of Hawk-hollow I. xi. 154 Wa' to been married soon, but faw the white nigga Gilbert, what cut the Colonel's throat!
1871 E. Eggleston Hoosier School-master iv. 52 ‘Ole Miss Meanses' white nigger’, as some of them called her, in allusion to her slavish life.
1883 Cent. Mag. Aug. 571/1 I wasn't born to make a nigger of myself in a free country.
1922 C. T. Campion tr. A. Schweitzer On Edge of Primeval Forest x. 164 Without this safeguard he [sc. the missionary] is soon in danger of becoming a nigger, as it is called here.
1974 J. Willwerth Jones: Portrait of Mugger xii. vii. 177 A nigger around here don't mean a black dude, you dig? It's a low-class dude who ain't going' [sic] nowhere—that's the true meaning of the word.
1977 R. P. Rettig et al. Manny vii. 176 Rettig: Somebody has to wash clothes. Manny: You're right! Society..needs niggers, and they'll take 'em where they find 'em, regardless of color.
b. Any person whose behaviour is regarded as reprehensible. derogatory.
ΚΠ
1840 W. G. Simms Border Beagles I. v. 85 They're [sc. white officers of justice] afraid of me, the niggers, and you see I aint afraid of them.
1861 A. G. Frick Let. 14 Feb. in H. Holzer Dear Mr. Lincoln (1993) x. 341 Abe Lincoln..goddam you..you are nothing but a goddam Black nigger.]
1884 Chicago Tribune 1 Dec. 8/1 When the ‘jigger’ [sc. a police officer] does come along the ‘niggers’, as the railroad men call their tormentors irrespective of color, are perched upon the fence like the rail birds, ready to call names and throw stones or fight him face to face.
1942 Z. N. Hurston Dust Tracks 49 ‘Don't be a nigger,’ he would say to me over and over. ‘Niggers lie and lie.’ [Note] The word Nigger used in this sense does not mean race. It means a weak, contemptible person of any race.
1989 Rolling Stone 10 Aug. 44/3 Let's start with one of the verses [of the song ‘One in a Million’], ‘Police and niggers, that's right/Get outta my way.’.. I [sc. W. Axl Rose, songwriter] used the word nigger because it's a word to describe somebody that is basically a pain in your life, a problem. The word nigger doesn't necessarily mean black.
1994 ‘Nas’ in Rolling Stone 19 May 64/2 Like I could tell Mr. Rudy Giuliani, ‘Yo, bitch, fucking bitch-ass nigger.’
1994 G. Smitherman Black Talk 167 ‘A group of Brothas was buggin out, drinkin the forty ounce, goin the nigga route,’ a clearly negative use of the word, meaning, Some Black males were on the street, partying, getting drunk off malt liquor, and acting the loud, vulgar stereotype of a nigga.
1997 C. Rock Rock This! i. 17 The niggers have got to go. Everytime black people want to have a good time, niggers mess it up. You can't do anything without some ignorant-ass niggers fucking it up... Can't go to a movie the first week it opens. Why? Because niggers are shooting at the screen... I love black people, but I hate niggers.
3.
a. A dark-skinned person of any origin. In early U.S. use usually with reference to American Indians. Usually offensive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > non-white person > [noun]
person of colour1786
buck1800
coloured1832
Indiano1836
nigger1843
skepsel1844
native1846
non-white1864
fuzzy1890
fuzzy-wuzzy1892
monk1903
non-European1906
golliwog1916
wog1921
non-European1925
gook1935
boong1941
jungle bunny1966
Indio1969
1843 T. C. Haliburton Attaché (1846) 180 Heathen Indgean niggers.
1857 Ld. Dufferin Lett. from High Latitudes 251 This relationship with Polynesian Niggers, the native genealogists would probably scout with indignation.
1869 P. A. Taylor Colony of Queensland 11 What can you supply me a hundred niggers [sc. Kanakas] for?
1899 in J. M. Merrill Uncommon Valor 251 We came here [i.e. in the Philippines] to lick the niggers.
1919 P. B. Kyne Capt. Scraggs 119 On the island o' Aranuka, right under the Hakatuea volcano. There was some strappin' big buck native niggers there that would fetch $300 a head.
1934 G. B. Shaw On the Rocks ii. 70 Pandranath: you are only a silly nigger pretending to be an English gentleman.
1992 N. Morris Brothel Boy 9 He's trying to suck up to Veraswami for some reason... He must know we can't let niggers in.
1994 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) June 164/2 The tawny sailing bums who frequent the international yachting circuit are known derisively as ‘boat niggers’.
b. Australian (offensive). An Aboriginal person.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > New Zealand and Australian indigenous peoples > Australian Aboriginal peoples > [noun]
New Hollander1697
Australian1815
blackfellow1827
aboriginal1828
Jacky Jacky1845
nigger1845
Australoid1869
murri1884
Abo1908
binghi1933
boong1941
1845 G. de C. Lefroy in C. T. Stannage New Hist. W. Austral. (1981) 95 It is shocking..to see a fine young fellow cut off by the odious detestable niggers.
1891 Argus (Melbourne) 7 Nov. 13/5 The natives of Queensland are nearly always spoken of as ‘niggers’ by those who are brought most directly in contact with them.
1915 N. Duncan Austral. Byways 99 ‘Find a nigger,’ said our bushman..‘and you'll get water.’
1941 I. L. Idriess Great Boomerang xxii. 169 The cranky nigger who was on the job broke the only shovel.
1959 E. Webb Mark of Sun 14 No one else called me a farting nigger; at least, not to my face.
1986 Austral. Geogr. Jan. 76/3 The Duncans have enjoyed so much success they have earned the epithet ‘uptown niggers’ from other Aboriginal people.
c. New Zealand (offensive). A Maori.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > New Zealand and Australian indigenous peoples > Maori > [noun]
New Zealander1770
Zealander1773
Maori1834
nigger1858
moa-hunter1870
Hori1933
1858 A. S. Atkinson in Richmond–Atkinson Papers (1960) I. 175 We heard that Bishop Selwyn..thinks there is a fair chance of collision with the ‘niggers’.
1868 R. Taylor Past & Present N.Z. 111 The Maori is constantly being called a nigger and a black fellow to his face, and viewed as an inferior being.
1911 N.Z. Truth 7 Jan. 1 Heavens above, we filch the nigger's land and then we make an alien of him.
1984 Dominion (Wellington, N.Z.) 28 Mar. 7 Later a girl by the campfire said ‘why don't you niggers do a haka and...off’[ellipsis in text].
4. Now chiefly in African-American usage: a person, a fellow (regardless of skin colour).Recent use has developed from a conscious, politically motivated reclamation of the term among black Americans, and as such does not usually carry negative connotations, although it may be considered offensive when used by white people in imitation of this usage.The following examples show use of the word in reference to white people; examples showing neutral or positive use in reference to black people are at senses A. 1a, A. 1c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > [noun]
hadc900
lifesmaneOE
maneOE
world-maneOE
ghostOE
wyeOE
lifeOE
son of manOE
wightc1175
soulc1180
earthmanc1225
foodc1225
person?c1225
creaturec1300
bodyc1325
beera1382
poppetc1390
flippera1400
wat1399
corsec1400
mortal?a1425
deadly?c1450
hec1450
personagec1485
wretcha1500
human1509
mundane1509
member1525
worma1556
homo1561
piece of flesh1567
sconce1567
squirrel?1567
fellow creature1572
Adamite1581
bloat herringa1586
earthling1593
mother's child1594
stuff1598
a piece of flesh1600
wagtail1607
bosom1608
fragment1609
boots1623
tick1631
worthy1649
earthlies1651
snap1653
pippin1665
being1666
personal1678
personality1678
sooterkin1680
party1686
worldling1687
human being1694
water-wagtail1694
noddle1705
human subject1712
piece of work1713
somebody1724
terrestrial1726
anybody1733
individual1742
character1773
cuss1775
jig1781
thingy1787
bod1788
curse1790
his nabs1790
article1796
Earthite1814
critter1815
potato1815
personeityc1816
nibs1821
somebody1826
tellurian1828
case1832
tangata1840
prawn1845
nigger1848
nut1856
Snooks1860
mug1865
outfit1867
to deliver the goods1870
hairpin1879
baby1880
possum1894
hot tamale1895
babe1900
jobbie1902
virile1903
cup of tea1908
skin1914
pisser1918
number1919
job1927
apple1928
mush1936
face1944
jong1956
naked ape1965
oke1970
punter1975
1848 G. F. A. Ruxton Life in Far West v, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Oct. 434/1 What does the niggur say?
1850 L. H. Garrard Wah-to-Yah 161 They..pick up a beaver trap to ask what it is—just shows whar the niggurs had their bringin' up.
1851 M. Reid Scalp Hunters II. viii. 119 Oncet on a time, this niggur [sc. the speaker] chawed a varmint that wan't much sweeter.
1925 L. R. Harris in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 563/2 Howdy niggahs,..how's you all dis mawnin'.
1964 K. Kesey Sometimes Great Notion 92 The old nigger don't hear so clear.
1995 P. Bourgois In Search of Respect i. 42 You're a good nigga'. See you tomorrow.
2000 P. Beatty Tuff xiii. 171 Look at Ben Franklin. Tuffy, holding a starched one-hundred-dollar bill up to his face, was scrutinizing the old statesman's portrait. Nigger look upset.
5. In African-American usage: (with possessive adjective) a close (usually black) friend, a comrade, a boyfriend or girlfriend, a spouse.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > friendliness > [noun] > friend
friendOE
wineOE
fellowa1225
friendmana1250
lovera1275
amic1330
gossipc1390
mikea1400
ally1406
amykec1450
favourer1483
favourite1590
palc1770
butty1791
amigo1813
amico1820
compadre1834
pally1863
tillicum1869
nigger1884
buddy1895
paxc1900
mutual1901
righto1908
segotia1917
bud1924
palsy1930
palsy-walsy1932
buddy-buddy1943
winger1943
mucker1947
main man1956
goombah1968
gabba1970
money1982
1884 J. C. Harris in Cent. Mag. Nov. 121/1 I say ter myse'f, maybe my nigger man mought be some'rs 'roun'.]
1884 J. A. Harrison Negro Eng. in Anglia 7 266 To tu'n er nigger right loose, to give a man free play.
1937 C. B. Himes Night's for Cryin' in Esquire Jan. 64/3 A passing brownskin answered to the call of ‘Babe’, paused before her ‘nigger’ in saddle-backed stance, arms akimbo.
1960 J. A. Williams Angry Ones (1996) xxi 163 Obie, I got to be with you, you know that. You know you're my nigger, man.
1965 C. Brown Manchild in Promised Land 140 This is my main nigger, my number one nigger, and anybody who fucks wit him, it's just as well as if they'd came and fucked wit me.
1995 ‘Q-Tip’ in ‘Mobb Deep’ Drink away Pain (Situations) (transcribed from song) in Infamous Tommy Hil [sc. Tommy Hilfiger, a white fashion designer] was my nigga And others couldn't figure How me and Hilfiger used to move through with vigor.
1999 FEDS Mag. 2 v. 66/1 Kim is my nigga, she's just so understanding.
2001 Sports Illustr. 23 Apr. 62/1 He told me his friends had pulled him out [of the fight], he hadn't done nothin'. ‘They didn't want me gettin' in no trouble,’ he said. ‘They my niggas.’
6. Esp. U.S. A person who is socially, politically, or economically disadvantaged or exploited; a victim of prejudice likened to that endured by African Americans.In this use usually with awareness of the word's offensive connotations, but without intention to cause offence, to identify a group regarded as similarly disadvantaged or exploited.In quot. 1963, the editor explains:
1997 D. Brinkley in H. S. Thompson Proud Highway 411 (note) After reading Norman Mailer's The White Negro, Thompson developed a theory that all working-class people were niggers.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > misuse > [noun] > manipulation or exploitation > one who is exploited
conveniency1729
convenience1866
exploitee1893
nigger1941
1941 W. Lewis Vulgar Streak 137 Since there are no niggers here, they had to create niggers. The poor are the niggers in this country.
1963 H. S. Thompson Let. 6 Nov. in Proud Highway (1997) 411 My earlier concept of The Nigger.
1972 J. Lennon & Y. Ono (song) Woman is the nigger of the world.
1979 W. Kennedy Ironweed v. 120 It was the church where the Italians went to preserve their souls in a city where Italians were the niggers and micks of a new day.
1987 R. Doyle Commitments 9 The Irish are the niggers of Europe, lads... An' Dubliners are the niggers of Ireland. The culchies [sc. rural residents] have fuckin' everythin'. An' the northside Dubliners are the niggers o' Dublin.
1998 J. Bosso Hit is Hit (HBO TV shooting script) 28 in Sopranos 1st Ser. (O.E.D. Archive) You're talking to the wrong white man my friend. My people [sc. Jewish people] were the white man's nigger when yours [sc. black people] were still painting their faces and chasing zebras.
7. U.S. Any person who behaves in a manner associated with African Americans; a person who identifies with African-American culture as opposed to middle-class white culture.
ΚΠ
1965 C. Brown Manchild in Promised Land iv. 137 As far as I'm concerned, that paddy boy is twice the nigger any of you cats might think you are or might ever try to be.]
1970 R. D. Abrahams Positively Black vi. 135 Hippies and other recent Bohemian groups have openly proclaimed themselves ‘white niggers’ by which they seem to mean that, like blacks, they represent an alternative to the life style of majority-group American culture.
1977 G. Smitherman Talkin & Testifyin iii. 62 Nigguh... Sometimes it means culturally black, identifying with and sharing the values and experiences of black people.
1977 G. Smitherman Talkin & Testifyin iii. 62 At a black rally, when the Sister shouted out, ‘Nigguhs is beautiful, baby,’ she was referring to ‘shonuff nigguhs’, as contrasted to Negroes, who aspire to white middle-class values.
1992 R. Gooden & O. Brackens Mnniiggaah (song) in L. A. Stanley Rap: The Lyrics (1992) 143 I'm a nigga But that is just the way I choose to act It ain't got nothin' to do with bein' black... Where I'm from there's a lot of white niggas.
2000 Essence Nov. 194/1 If you're [sc. a black woman] walking down a dark street at night,..who do you want by your side: an African-American or a nigga?
2001 Washington Monthly Apr. 51/2 In private conversations among blacks, Clinton is ghetto, a nigga (not nigger, mind you)—terms that say: He is one of us.
II. Other senses.
8. British regional.
a. The black caterpillar of the turnip sawfly, Athalia rosae. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Symphta or Phytophaga Sessiliventres > family Tenthredinidae > athalia centifolia (turnip-sawfly) > larva of
black jack1807
nigger1840
black caterpillar1848
nigger caterpillar1850
turnip-nigger1893
1840 E. Blyth et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom 584 Athalia centifoliæ is extremely destructive to turnips, its larva being known under the name of the Nigger, or Black Jack.
1844 H. Stephens Bk. of Farm III. 774 The larvæ are known in different parts of the country by the names of black caterpillar, blacks, nigger, canker, etc.
1874 J. Lubbock Orig. & Metamorphoses Insects i. 7 To this group belongs the nigger, or black caterpillar of the turnip.
1932 E. Step Bees, Wasps, Ants & Allied Insects 197 The young larvæ are at first whitish with two black spots on the head; but when nearing full size their upper parts become black, which earned for them among garden folk the name of ‘Nigger’ and ‘Black Jack’.
b. The blackish larva of a ladybird. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Diversicornia > family Coccinellidae > member of (lady-bird) > larva of
neger1848
nigger1855
1855 J. C. Morton Cycl. Agric. II. 120 Nigger, the name of lady-bird larvæ in hop grounds.
1975 Country Gentlemen's Mag. Sept. 480/1 Have you seen any Subcoccinella Vigintiquatuor Puntata lately? Most gardeners call them niggers..these are the scientific and popular names of the tiny ladybird larvae.
c. A black or blackish sea cucumber, Holothuria forskali, common off rocky shores on the west coast of Britain and Ireland. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > phylum Echinodermata > [noun] > subphylum Eleutherozoa > class Holothurioidea > member of (sea-cucumber)
quab1617
sea-pudding1750
sea-orange1753
Priapus1765
holothuria1792
sea cucumber1841
sea-gherkin1841
holothurian1842
sea-melon1854
nigger1855
slug1855
holothurioid1859
sea-quince1861
holothurid1877
red fish1880
pumpkin1897
1855 J. Ogilvie Suppl. Imperial Dict. Nigger, a species of holothuria, so called by the Cornish fishermen. It is very common in deep water off the Deadmen.
1993 B. E. Picton Field Guide Shallow-water Echinoderms Brit. Isles 68 Holothuria forskali delle Chiaje, 1841. Nigger, Cotton-spinner.
9. U.S.
a. A steam-driven capstan used on some riverboats; a steam engine used to drive such a capstan (also more fully nigger engine). Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment for moving ship over bar or shoal > [noun] > winch or capstan
capstanc1400
winch1623
nigger1867
1867 J. A. Hosmer Trip to States by Yellowstone & Missouri 58 The boat..struck the bar; they then began to work with the spars and nigger, and at two o'clock we got off.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 1526/2 Nigger (Steam-engine), a steam-engine employed in hoisting; especially on shipboard and on the Western and Southern rivers.
1878 J. H. Beadle Western Wilds 378 Then oaths, spars, ‘nigger-engine’ and all the other available machinery were set in operation.
1882 Harper's Mag. Jan. 175/2 One of the ‘nigger’ engines is suddenly called into service to tighten a two-inch rope, or wind up a discarded cable.
1942 R. A. Hereford Old Man River 114 The other end of the rope was secured to the capstan,..which was operated by a small engine called the ‘nigger’.
b. A device used to hold and turn logs in a sawmill.
ΚΠ
1890 Cent. Dict. Nigger,..a strong iron-bound timber with sharp teeth or spikes protruding from its front face, forming part of the machinery of a sawmill.
1900 Atlantic Monthly 85 103/2 ‘Carriages’, bright with red and green lanterns..rush to and fro, seizing the logs as they come from the ‘kickers’ and ‘niggers’.
1910 S. E. White Rules of Game i. v. 32 When the car had flown back to its starting-point, the ‘nigger’ rose from obscurity to turn the log half-way round.
1929 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 482/1 A steam or air ‘nigger’ (mechanically operated steel arms) helps to place the log in the proper position.
1969 L. G. Sorden Lumberjack Lingo 80 Nigger, a fast-moving power arm on the log carriage in a sawmill that turned a log for sawing.
10. U.S. A fault, a defect. Obsolete. rare.In quot. 1886 used of a flaw in the insulating covering of an electrical conductor.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > discontinuity or unconformity > [noun] > fault
trouble1672
dislocation1695
trap1719
trapping1758
slip1789
step1789
fault1796
throw1796
jump1842
nigger1886
1886 Sci. Amer. 15 May 308 The consequence of neglect might be that what the workmen call ‘a nigger’ would get into the armature, and burn it so as to destroy its service.
11. A dark brown colour. Cf. Compounds 3. Now rare (offensive).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [noun] > dark brown
burneta1450
chocolate colour1729
chocolate-brown1766
chocolate1785
mocha1895
mocha brown1895
nigger1914
nigger-brown1915
tête de nègre1916
cocoa1923
charcoal brown1959
peat1971
1914 Lady's Pictorial 4 July p. v (advt.) Soft Taffeta Hat..In Black,..Nigger, Mole, and White.
1917 Home Chat 3 Nov. 139/2 Nigger or, as it is now called, ‘Zulu’, is also to be seen.
1929 D. Drage Rug Making 20 The brown-red background, with nigger and navy outlines, a deep cream ground in the border, and small swastikas.
12. Film and Television. A screen or mask used to deflect or conceal unwanted light, to cast shadows, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > filming > filming equipment > [noun] > masks or screens
gobo1923
nigger1925
matte1938
scrim1950
1925 Los Angeles Times 29 Nov. b6 Nigger, a composition board on a rack placed between the lights and the camera so as to keep the light from striking the lens.
1934 Tit-bits 31 Mar. 12/1 The film world has a colourful compilation of expressions unlike those in other walks of life. ‘Niggers’ are not men of colour, but blackboards used to ‘kill’ unwanted reflections from the powerful lights.
1937 A. Buchanan Film Making iii. 52 ‘Niggers’ are wooden oblong screens used to ‘nigger-off’ or shield light from faces, or shadows on walls, and so ‘Her face needs a nigger’ is not such an alarming statement as it sounds to the uninitiated.
1960 O. Skilbeck ABC of Film & TV Working Terms 89 Nigger, an adjustable Mask on a stand, used on the Floor to shield the camera from, or to achieve effects with, lights.
1976 B. Armstrong Gloss. TV Terms 64 Nigger, a form of flag.
13. Australian. The luderick (fish), Girella tricuspidata.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Percoidei > [noun] > member of family Girellidae
Hottentot fish1731
sweep1840
luderick1898
nigger1927
black perch1966
1927 A. Wright Squatter's Secret 38 The big catch of lively ‘niggers’ splashing in a rock-bound pool behind him.
1948 F. D. Marshall Let's go Fishing 65 The ‘darkie’ or ‘nigger’..is a most worthy opponent.
1962 ‘N. Culotta’ Gone Fishin' 76 We were fishing for niggers. The official name for niggers, or blackfish, is ‘luderick’. They are listed as luderick on the monthly returns, but fishermen call them niggers.
1983 Sun (Sydney) 30 Sept. 28/4 Brisbane Water has been best of the estuaries, with bream, niggers and mullet.
B. adj. (attributive).
1. Being a dark-skinned person of sub-Saharan African origin or descent; belonging or relating to dark-skinned people of sub-Saharan African origin or descent. Also (occasionally) designating any dark-skinned person (see quot. 1946). See also nigger boy n. at Compounds 1. Now usually offensive (see note at sense A. 1).In extended use in quot. a1845.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > black person > [adjective]
blackOE
Morian1504
African1548
Negro1593
black Morian1631
neger1657
Ethiopian1684
nigger1689
Hubshee1698
Kaffir1731
Nigritian1757
Ethiopic1778
dingy1785
blackamoor1813
nigger-looking1837
darkie1840
Negroid1844
Negroloid1844
dinge1848
Melanian1861
negroish1861
Negroidal1878
Africanoid1885
chocolate?1886
melanodermic1924
nigra1938
tan1950
the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > black person > [adjective] > inhabited by
Negro1658
nigger1689
1689 in Amer. Speech (1967) 42 160 One niggor Boy.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan I. xiii. 413 ‘I'm proud of it, our Edith.’—‘Proud of it, cousin!’—Aye; there's no nigger blood, in us.
1833 J. Neal Down-easters I. 66 If there's a drop of nigger-blood in 'em, they'll always show it in their temper.
1836 D. Crockett Exploits & Adventures in Texas vii. 97 Nigger women are knocked down by the auctioneer, and knocked up by the purchaser.
a1845 R. H. Barham Brothers of Birchington in Ingoldsby Legends (1847) 3rd Ser. 263 Their nigger inhabitants [sc. devils] shook in their hoofs.
1926 H. Crane Let. 8 July (1965) 265 A dozen odd sick and wailing nigger females below decks.
1946 K. Tennant Lost Haven (1947) Prol. 6 No grandson of mine,..is going to be brought up by them thieving, godless, nigger Detwinters.
1970 J. Cortez in O. Coombs We speak as Liberators 17 Love Lives And I wanta taste myself inside Mmmmmmmm that pure nigguh pain.
1975 C. Dennis Somebody just grabbed Annie! 208 You haven't been listening to this nigger bitch all day. I have!
1994 P. Baker Blood Posse xvi. 186 Well. If it ain't my friend the nigger supercop, Mr Riley.
2. Chiefly U.S. slang (derogatory and offensive). Supposedly used by, characteristic of, or suitable for black people; contemptible, disreputable, or despicable; inferior; peculiar; bogus.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > condition of being held in contempt > [adjective] > contemptible
unworthc893
unwrastc893
littleOE
narrow-hearteda1200
wretcha1200
unworthya1240
wretchedc1250
un-i-wrastc1275
bad1276
lechera1300
feeblea1325
despisablea1340
villain1340
contemptiblec1384
lousyc1386
caitiff1393
brothelyc1400
roinousa1425
poor1425
sevenpennyc1475
nasty1477
peakish1519
filthy1533
despectuous1541
beggary1542
scald1542
shitten?1545
disdainfula1547
contemptuous1549
despicable1553
skit-brained?1553
contemniblea1555
vile1560
sluttish1561
queer1567
scornful1570
scallardc1575
tinkerly?1576
worthless1576
beggarly?1577
paltry1578
halfpenny1579
dog bolt1580
pitiful1582
sneaking1582
triobolar1585
wormisha1586
baddy1586
dudgeon1592
measled1596
packstaff1598
roguey1598
roguish1601
contemptful1608
grovelling1608
lightly1608
disdainable1611
purulent1611
snotty-nose1622
vilipendious1630
cittern-headed1638
wormy1640
pissabed1643
triobolary1644
disparageable1648
blue-bellied1652
unestimable1656
scullion1658
piteous1667
dirty1670
shabbed1674
shabby1679
snotty1681
snotty-nosed1682
mucky1683
bollocky1694
scoundrel1700
scaldeda1704
sneaking1703
ficulnean1716
unsolid1731
pitiable1753
scrubby1754
inimitable1798
scrubbish1798
worm-likea1807
small1824
lowlife1827
ketty1828
skunkish1831
yellow-bellied1833
scaly1843
cockroachya1845
wutless1853
nigger1859
trashy1862
low-down1872
cruddy1877
shitty1879
tinhorn1886
blithering1889
motherfucking1890
snidey1890
pilgarlicky1894
shitass1895
shoddy1918
yah boo1921
bitching1929
shit-faced1932
turdish1936
fricking1937
jerk-off1937
chickenshit1940
sheg-up1941
snot-nosed1941
jerky1944
mother-loving1948
scroungy1948
fecking1952
pissant1952
shit-kicking1953
shit-eating1956
bumboclaat1957
rassclaat1957
shit-headed1959
farkakte1960
shithouse1966
daggy1967
dipshit1968
scuzzy1969
bloodclaat1971
bitch ass1972
wanky1972
streelish1974
twatty1975
twattish1976
dweeby1988
douchey1991
wank1991
cockish1996
society > society and the community > social attitudes > racial attitudes > [adjective] > racist > used by, suitable for, or characteristic of
nigger1930
1859 M. Pattison in Fraser's Mag. Jan. 119/2 It is in perpetual conflict with the rules of good Latinity,..partly from the addle-headed understanding of the characters supposed to write this nigger Latin.
1901 in S. Dennison Scandalize my Name (1982) 408 But I saw when you came in you was blin' from niggah gin.
1921 in H. Cannon Cowboy Poetry (1985) 19 I was suckled by a grizzly and was weaned on nigger gin.
1930 W. Faulkner As I lay Dying 190 She would maybe buy a cheap comb or a bottle of nigger toilet water.
1953 Sun (Baltimore) 15 Aug. (B ed.) 10/6 John Kissel..received a nigger offer from the Ottawa Rough Riders, and accepted it.
1978 J. Updike Coup (1979) vii. 258 In my student need across the seas I had held a variety of lowly jobs—‘nigger work’, in the friendly phrase of the lily-white elite of Franchise.
1988 in Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. (1996) III. 790/1 I heard the phrase ‘nigger brick’ from a Houston heart surgeon who was showing me an old post office, the exterior of which was finished in tin painted to look like brick.

Phrases

Now offensive.
P1. colloquial (originally U.S.). to work like a nigger and variants: to work exceptionally hard.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > working > [verb (intransitive)] > work hard or toil
workeOE
swingc1000
to the boneOE
labourc1390
toilc1400
drevyll?1518
drudge1548
droy1576
droil1591
to tug at the (an) oar1612
to stand to it1632
rudge1676
slave1707
to work like a beaver1741
to hold (also keep, bring, put) one's nose to the grindstone1828
to feague it away1829
to work like a nigger1836
delve1838
slave1852
leather1863
to sweat one's guts out1890
hunker1903
to sweat (also work) one's guts out1932
to eat (also work) like a horse1937
beaver1946
to work like a drover's dog1952
to get one's nose down (to)1962
1803 J. Davis Trav. U.S.A. 383 I..worked like a new negur.]
1836 C. Gilman Recoll. Southern Matron in Southern Rose 23 July 186/1 I have toiled night and day, I've worked like a nigger, and more than any nigger.
1861 ‘G. Eliot’ Let. 13 Apr. (1954) III. 404 Charles..will..work like a nigger at his music.
1880 ‘M. Twain’ Tramp Abroad iii. 40 He laid into his work like a nigger.
1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xxvi All four used to work like niggers.
1902 J. Mathew Austral. Echoes 90 The next to sing was Dick the digger, A man who ‘grafted’ like a nigger.
1920 R. Fry Let. 20 June (1972) II. 481 I have worked like a nigger to arrange it [sc. an exhibition] well.
1939 These are our Lives (Federal Writers' Project, U.S.) 5 The next year I worked like a nigger and that fall John bought me a coat suit.
1955 ‘Miss Read’ Village School xv. 101 If this was the way to get to Caxley High School with its untold joys..why, then she'd work like a nigger and get there!
1997 Transition No. 73. 86 [He] upbraided a journalist who had asked him to work harder with the rhetorical question, ‘Do you expect me to work like a nigger? I am not a Negro.’
P2.
a. U.S. Now rare.
nigger in the fence n. = nigger in the woodpile n. at Phrases 2b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > [noun] > hidden tendency or activity
under-water1618
undercurrent1792
undertow1817
underplay1845
underswell1849
nigger in the fence1850
nigger in the woodpile1852
underflow1854
—— in the woodpile1857
undernote1857
undertone1861
underdrift1891
under-belly1962
1850 California Courier (San Francisco) 4 Sept. 2/6 The majority of the papers, however, think that there ‘is a nigger in the fence’ somewhere.
1888 B. Harte Phyllis of Sierras i. iii. 90 Ef he aint scooped up by Jenny Bradley he'll guess there's a nigger in the fence somewhere.
1911 H. Quick Yellowstone Nights xi. 286 He's always looking for a nigger in the fence.
1923 J. Conrad Let. 3 Jan. (2008) VIII. 6 May it [sc. a ray of light] not be extinguished by the poisonous breath of the well-known ‘nigger in the fence’ who has been the curse of my existence for years.
b. Originally U.S.
nigger in the woodpile n. (and variants) [see etymological note] a concealed motive or unknown factor affecting a situation in an adverse way.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > [noun] > hidden tendency or activity
under-water1618
undercurrent1792
undertow1817
underplay1845
underswell1849
nigger in the fence1850
nigger in the woodpile1852
underflow1854
—— in the woodpile1857
undernote1857
undertone1861
underdrift1891
under-belly1962
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > [noun] > instance or cause of > hidden
pitfallc1390
wevet1499
a pad in the straw1530
shelf1560
trapfall1596
snake1611
trapdoor1648
mantrap1798
death-trap1828
nigger in the woodpile1852
—— in the woodpile1857
1843 D. Emmett 'Twill nebber do to gib it up So! (sheet music) 2 Nigger on de wood-pile barkin like a dog.]
1852 in Kansas Hist. Q. (1942) 11 235 No ‘nigger in the wood pile’ here..; white men are at the bottom of this speculation.
1876 Congress. Rec. 4 Aug. 5153/1 If some one should say..that there was some ‘nigger in the wood-pile’, some ‘cat in the bag’, some motive to actuate me.
1897 Congress. Rec. 18 Feb. App. 61/1 Like a great many others ignorant of facts, he finds ‘a nigger in the wood pile’ where there is neither wood pile nor nigger.
1911 W. Wilson in Outlook 11 Aug. 944 If you go through the schedules you will find some nigger in every wood pile.
1930 Cambr. Daily News 24 Sept. 7/6 Unless..there is a nigger in the wood pile,..the shares ought to be worth a mild flutter at round 8s. 6d.
1952 A. Christie They do it with Mirrors xii. 109 Well now, let's have your point of view. Who's the nigger in the woodpile? The G.I. husband?
1960 Daily Tel. 16 Jan. 8 This seems to be the nigger in the woodpile—the woodpile being an industrial recovery and activity remarkable by any standard.
1990 N.Y. Times 11 Jan. b1/1 He suggested to a racially mixed audience in Brooklyn that critics of government were ‘always looking for a nigger in the woodpile’.

Compounds

All of these compounds are offensive.
C1. General attributive.
nigger boy n.
ΚΠ
1689 in Amer. Speech (1967) 42 160 One niggor Boy.
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan III. 207 Nobody there, I guess, but a nigger boy.
1899 Overland Monthly Nov. 436/1 I seed it wid my own eyes, how you go flirtin' en' flouncin' en' coopein' 'round dem nigger boys at dat meetin'-house las' Sunday night.
1990 J. C. Oates Because it is Bitter i. vi. 51 Nobody ever needed a diploma for carpentry or bricklaying..nigger-boy vocational-school shit like that.
nigger child n.
ΚΠ
?1850 T. Carlyle in U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. Apr. 302 ‘Sweet, blighted lilies’,—as the American epitaph on the nigger child has it.
1878 Harper's Mag. Oct. 778/2 Tom Terrell had to endure many a gibe as to his daughter having become a teacher of ‘nigger children’.
1947 Social Forces 25 272/1 Do you know how that man made his money? He made it with broken-down mules and nigger children.
1997 South Bend (Indiana) Tribune (Nexis) 13 June c2 Someone at a mall pointed to her mother and said ‘look at her with those nigger children.’
nigger culture n.
ΚΠ
1970 J. B. Cole in A. Chapman New Black Voices (1972) iii. 493 When blacks refer to ‘Nigger culture’, they often very explicitly speak of soul and style.
2002 Irish Times (Nexis) 19 Feb. 1 Jazz-dancing is the product of the dirty low nigger culture of America.
nigger dialect n.
ΚΠ
1834 Knickerbocker 3 445 Although mighty smart, and a mighty smart chance, mighty big, and mighty little was excellent ‘nigger’ dialect, yet it was not so refined, as an orator might use.
1979 A. Walker I love myself when I am Laughing 2 in Jrnl. Black Stud. (1982) 12 403 That ‘comical nigger “dialect”’ that has been laughed at, denied, ignored, or ‘improved’ so.
nigger emancipation n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1833 Satirist 9 June 53/1 (headline) The planter's scheme for ‘Nigger’ Emancipation.
a1881 T. Carlyle in Atlantic Monthly (1883) July 132/2 Their universal suffrages, their nigger emancipations, sluggard and scoundrel protection societies.
nigger funeral n. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
1721 S. Sewall Diary 20 Oct. (1973) II. 984 Met a Niger Funeral.
nigger hunt n.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social attitudes > racial attitudes > [noun] > racism > organized pursuit
nigger hunt1834
nigger hunting1834
the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > following behind > [noun] > pursuit > hostile or violent > man-hunt or man-hunting > of black people
nigger hunt1834
nigger hunting1834
1834 Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. 3 135/3 When a slave runs away..a party is made up for a nigger hunt.
1882 in P. O'Farrell Lett. from Irish Austral. (1984) 68 The only incidents that occur are ‘nigger hunts’.
1961 Amer. Sociol. Rev. 26 478/2 The Notting Hill Riots, in which nine young white Britons went on a ‘nigger-hunt’ that triggered mob violence.
nigger-land n.
ΚΠ
1834 R. H. Froude Remains (1838) I. 380 Niggerland is a poor substitute for the limen Apostolorum.
1893 ‘J. Flynt’ in Cent. Mag. Nov. 99/2 His [sc. Barcas] South was all that remained below his equatorial line, but the eastern part of it he nicknamed Niggerland.
1999 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 3 Oct. 13/1 At the beach..boys drew a line in the sand and designated it the border between Southie and ‘Niggerland’.
nigger lips n.
ΚΠ
1919 J. Joyce Ulysses x. [Wandering Rocks] in Little Rev. June 37 From the hoardings Mr Eugene Stratton grinned with thick niggerlips at Father Conmee.
1992 Independent on Sunday (Nexis) 30 Sept. They'd say..she was ugly. They'd say she had nigger lips or she looked too Jewish.
nigger man n.
ΚΠ
1766 in Harper's Mag. Mar. 535/2 I, Governor Cuff of the Niegro's in the province of Connecticut, do resign my Governmentship to John Anderson Niegor man to Governor Skene.]
1813 in William & Mary Q. (1941) 21 263 My nigger man John now in Wm. Graves's possession.
1894 ‘M. Twain’ Pudd'nhead Wilson xviii. 238 I give a nigger man a dollar for dese clo'es, en I ain't be'n in a house sence..till now.
1988 N. Bissoondath Casual Brutality x. 206 The way you scream, I thought it was a nigger-man.
nigger melody n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1837 Satirist 5 Feb. 461/3 That ‘beautiful nigger melody’, Jim Crow, owes some at least of its notoriety to fashionable patronage.
1857 J. D. Borthwick Three Years in Calif. xii. 212 My entertainers, producing two violins, favoured me with a selection of Nigger melodies.
1894 G. Du Maurier Trilby I. iii. 219 He..can even scream with laughter at..a nigger melody.
nigger mouth n.
ΚΠ
1920 J. Joyce Ulysses Nausicca in Little Rev. July 47 The dark one [sc. girl] with the mop head and the nigger mouth.
1994 Toronto Star (Nexis) 5 Mar. j13 [She] told her to get the fancy French words out of her ‘nigger mouth’.
nigger music n.
ΚΠ
1846 Caledonian Mercury 8 Oct. 2/5 These serenaders show that even in nigger music some approach may be made to the plaintive melancholy of a higher order of minstrelsy.
1899 Music Jan. 251 Is it for this that the grand orchestras..exist?—that the people should rather go to hear a brass band play ‘nigger music’ in a beer garden?
1993 Amer. Hist. Rev. 98 896/1 The survival of this music under the Third Reich, where racism led to the disparagement of jazz as ‘nigger music’.
2000 M. T. Bertrand Race, Rock, & Elvis 48 Southern white rock 'n' roll performers and audiences..could..idolize black stars... Yet they could just as easily refer to their new-found heroes as ‘jungle-bunnies’ who played ‘Nigger music’.
nigger quarter n. (also nigger quarters)
ΚΠ
1856 F. L. Olmsted Journey Slave States 61 You'll see some nigger-quarters.
1894 ‘M. Twain’ Pudd'nhead Wilson iii. 48 She..lef' her own chile layin' aroun', en tuck en toted de queen's chile home to de nigger-quarter.
2000 Houston Chron. (Nexis) 23 Sept. a33 They refer to (their area of Cleveland) as the ‘nigger quarters’, and just about everybody in Cleveland calls it that still.
nigger show n.
ΚΠ
1856 C. E. De Long in Calif. Hist. Soc. Q. (1930) 9 60 Went to a nigger show.
1909 R. E. Knowles Attic Guest xiii. 156 They'll be flaunting that Uncle Tom's Cabin nigger show under your noses.
2004 E. Bonilla-Silva in R. D. Coates Race & Ethnicity 98 While his family was watching black TV shows such as Sanford and Son or The Jeffersons, his father would say things such as ‘Are we gonna watch the nigger shows?’
nigger song n.
ΚΠ
1832 Examiner 30 Sept. 630/2 Braham's nigger song, in the Padlock had great humour.
1879 J. R. Planché Good Woman in Wood ii. iv. 253 (note) A nigger song to this tune..was extremely popular at that date.
1997 Chicago Sun-Times (Nexis) 28 Dec. 20 Blacks are expressing outrage that a group of drunken firefighters are caught on videotape singing a ‘nigger song’.
C2.
a. Objective.
(a)
nigger-breaker n.
ΚΠ
1845 F. Douglass Narr. Life F. Douglass ix. 57 All of this added weight to his reputation as a ‘nigger-breaker’.
1899 C. W. Chesnutt Conjure Woman 96 Dey ain' nebber be'n no nigger-breaker lack you roun' heah befo'.
1986 Callaloo No. 27. 305 Douglass, an ‘uppity’ slave, is hired out to Covey, a ‘nigger-breaker’, to have his spirit curbed.
nigger-dealer n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1853 F. W. Thomas John Randolph & Other Sketches 285 You know Robinson the nigger-dealer, who has the pen down town.
nigger-driver n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment for moving ship over bar or shoal > [noun] > operator of
nigger-driver1833
society > authority > control > person in control > [noun] > superintendent > supervisor or overseer > of slaves
driver1755
Negro-driver1771
nigger-driver1833
1833 J. Neal Down-easters I. 70 When the nigger-drivers falls out among themselves.
1891 C. Roberts Adrift in Amer. 198 I never came across such a beast of a nigger driver as this fellow Cole.
1941 H. J. Massingham Fall of Year iii. 87 We have treated the soil as dirt, as a nigger-driver treated a plantation slave.
nigger hunter n.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social attitudes > racial attitudes > [noun] > racism > organized pursuit > person involved in
nigger hunter1855
the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > following behind > [noun] > pursuit > hostile or violent > man-hunt or man-hunting > one who pursues black people
nigger hunter1855
1855 C. G. Parsons Inside View Slavery 175 Here I found a large crowd of men who had gathered around the bar to receive a ‘treat’ from the ‘nigger hunters’, who always have that kind of glorification when the man is captured alive.
1993 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 8 Aug. j1/2 Police search the neighboring house..posted as ‘Nazi Nigger Hunter Headquarters’.
nigger hunting n.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social attitudes > racial attitudes > [noun] > racism > organized pursuit
nigger hunt1834
nigger hunting1834
the world > movement > progressive motion > order of movement > following behind > [noun] > pursuit > hostile or violent > man-hunt or man-hunting > of black people
nigger hunt1834
nigger hunting1834
1834 Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. 3 135/3 In Kentucky..nigger-hunting is a favourite sport.
1958 Encounter Dec. 4/2 They had then armed themselves,..and had gone on what they described..as a ‘nigger-hunting expedition’.
nigger-killer n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > killing > killer for specific reason or type of person > [noun] > of other specific types
deicide1653
magistricide1670
modernicide1760
prenticecide1797
giganticide1806
nigger-killer1856
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Scorpiones > order Pedipalpida > member of
scorpion-spider1802
pedipalp1835
nigger-killer1856
whip-scorpion1912
1856 F. L. Olmsted Journey Slave States 108 If a man does not provide well for his slaves..he gets the name of a ‘nigger killer’.
1998 Pittsburgh Post-Gaz. (Nexis) 17 Aug. b1 The trigger-happy ‘nigger-killers’ who are the men who actually set the pattern for race relations in the South.
nigger-lover n.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social attitudes > racial attitudes > [noun] > advocacy of black rights or interests > excessive liking for black people > one who
negromaniac1851
nigger-worshipper1855
nigger-lover1856
Kaffirboetie1939
1856 in E. W. Fornell Galveston Era (1961) 173 A wiseacre and a nigger lover.
1866 W. Reid After War 240 Nearly all of them fell readily enough into the current abuse of niggers and nigger-lovers.
1881 Amer. Missionary 35 303/2 Only those would apply for admission who could endure the reproach of being called ‘nigger lovers’.
1909 R. E. Knowles Attic Guest xiii. 178 ‘Then you can take what you deserve, curse you for a nigger-lover,’ I heard the Colonel retort madly.
1991 A. M. Dershowitz Chutzpah iv. 83 If I am speaking about racial equality, it is because ‘kikes are nigger-lovers’.
nigger-stealer n.
ΚΠ
1839 R. M. Bird Adventures Robin Day I. xxv. 181 I was ‘a kidnapper, a Georgeye nigger-stealer’.
1994 Tampa (Florida) Tribune (Nexis) 18 Dec. (Baylife section) 1 ‘It's horse thieves I'm after,’ said Jones... ‘And nigger-stealers. And murderers.’
nigger trader n.
ΚΠ
1850 De Bow's Rev. Sept. 326 Johnny come down de hollow. Oh, hollow! De nigger-trader got he.
1884 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Huckleberry Finn viii. 69 But I noticed dey wuz a nigger trader roun' de place considable, lately, en I begin to git oneasy.
1999 Bay State Banner (Boston) (Nexis) 11 Feb. 20 Then if they had bad ones, they'd sell them to the nigger traders..An' they'd ship them down south.
nigger-worship n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > respect > reverence > [noun] > excessive devotion to famous person > of specific people
lordolatry1846
nigger-worship1855
1855 N.Y. Herald 3 June 4/4 Old Garrison, of Boston, the great chief of nigger worship and nigger worshippers.​
1933 Brandon (Manitoba) Daily Sun 28 Dec. 6/3 Coming down through the years from the copper plate of Adalbert Volei, ‘Nigger Worship’, an indictment of the No’th in civil war days.
2005 D. S. Reynolds John Brown, Abolitionist i. 8 Democratic Party propaganda unjustifiably smeared the Republicans with responsibility for Harper’s Ferry. In this view ‘Black Republicanism’ meant not only ‘nigger worship’ but also deep alliance with John Brown.
nigger-worshipper n.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social attitudes > racial attitudes > [noun] > advocacy of black rights or interests > excessive liking for black people > one who
negromaniac1851
nigger-worshipper1855
nigger-lover1856
Kaffirboetie1939
1855 N.Y. Herald 3 June 4/4 Old Garrison, of Boston, the great chief of nigger worship and nigger worshippers.​
1901 W. Churchill Crisis i. ix. 78 The Black Republican Party, made up of old fools and young Anarchists, of Dutchmen and nigger-worshippers.
2000 R. Hendrickson Facts on File Dict. Amer. Regionalisms 112/1 The derogatory term nigger has been used in many expressions, including..nigger worshiper (one who favoured emancipation or one who now supports black political causes).
(b)
nigger-driving adj.
ΚΠ
1836 C. G. F. Gore Mrs. Armytage III. xiv. 216 The Duke of Spalding was occupied in promoting the dignities of his nigger-driving nephew-in-law.
1900 H. Lawson Over Sliprails 12 You'll never make money, except by hard graft—hard, bullocking nigger-driving graft.
nigger-loving adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social attitudes > racial attitudes > [adjective] > liking for or sympathy with black people
nigger-loving1839
negrophilistic1872
negrophile1906
1839 Satirist 13 Jan. 12/2 The insane mode of government of their nigger-loving Governor.
1869 Supplemental Rep. Joint Comm. Gen. Assembly Louisiana 189 This man then said that..he was a ‘d—d nigger loving son of a b—h, and ought to be killed’.
1914 S. Lewis Our Mr. Wrenn i. 3 Mrs. Zapp was too conscientiously dolorous to be much cheered by the sympathy of a nigger-lovin' Yankee.
2000 Daily Mail (Nexis) 12 July 24 A group of young men started shouting at me: ‘Nigger-loving whore’.
b. Parasynthetic and similative.
nigger-dead adj.
ΚΠ
1970 W. Ford in O. Coombs We speak as Liberators 43 I would tell of being Black and Proud and Black and Loud and Black and Bowed and Black and niggerdead.
nigger-faced adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1864 Chelsea (Mass.) Telegr. & Pioneer 6 Aug. 2/5 He is an old shrivelled up nigger-faced, crooked-back little specimen of Southern chivalry.
nigger-looking adj. Obsolete
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > black person > [adjective]
blackOE
Morian1504
African1548
Negro1593
black Morian1631
neger1657
Ethiopian1684
nigger1689
Hubshee1698
Kaffir1731
Nigritian1757
Ethiopic1778
dingy1785
blackamoor1813
nigger-looking1837
darkie1840
Negroid1844
Negroloid1844
dinge1848
Melanian1861
negroish1861
Negroidal1878
Africanoid1885
chocolate?1886
melanodermic1924
nigra1938
tan1950
1837 J. C. Maitland Lett. from Madras (1843) 99 He has a half-caste, dropsical wife, and a sickly nigger-looking child.
nigger-skinned adj.
ΚΠ
1938 S. Spender Trial of Judge 16 The gross-lipped fawn-eyed nigger-skinned Hook-nosed intellectual Petra.
C3. Forming nouns and adjectives denoting or designating a dark shade of a specified colour, as nigger-brown, nigger-grey, nigger-pink, etc. Cf. sense A. 11. Now rare (offensive).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [noun] > dark brown
burneta1450
chocolate colour1729
chocolate-brown1766
chocolate1785
mocha1895
mocha brown1895
nigger1914
nigger-brown1915
tête de nègre1916
cocoa1923
charcoal brown1959
peat1971
1915 Home Chat 2 Jan. 11/1 Nigger-brown cloth.
1922 D. H. Lawrence England my England 116 She was wearing a wide hat of grey straw, and a loose, swinging dress of nigger-grey velvet.
1930 J. Dos Passos 42nd Parallel i. 124 On each table there were niggerpink and vermilion paper flowers.
1960 V. Williams Walk Egypt 89 A dry-goods store showed a dress of ‘nigger-pink’.
1983 Listener 21 July 4/1 ‘It's a common phrase that is used throughout the land,’ he said. ‘And what about the colour nigger brown?’
2006 K. Atkinson One Good Turn (2007) viii. 69 Graham was dressed in an up-to-the-minute suit in a colour that, when Gloria was a child, everyone had blithely referred to as ‘nigger-brown’.
C4.
niggerball n. South African now rare (offensive). a large, spherical, aniseed-flavoured sweet, which is black on the outside, but changes colour in successive layers when sucked.
ΚΠ
1960 J. Taylor Ballad of Southern Suburbs (song) Ag Daddy how we miss Niggerballs and liquorice, Pepsi-cola, ginger-beer and Canada Dry.
1984 Signature (S. Afr.) Jan.–Feb. Niggerballs! By golly, haven't seen those gob stoppers for years.
nigger caterpillar n. Obsolete = sense A. 8a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Symphta or Phytophaga Sessiliventres > family Tenthredinidae > athalia centifolia (turnip-sawfly) > larva of
black jack1807
nigger1840
black caterpillar1848
nigger caterpillar1850
turnip-nigger1893
1850 J. C. Loudon Encycl. Gardening (ed. 2) 498 The black jack, or nigger caterpillar, being the larva of Athalia centifoliæ.
nigger chaser n. U.S. (offensive now historical) a kind of firework.
ΚΠ
1883 G. W. Peck Peck's Bad Boy 22 I had a lot of rockets and Roman candles, and six pin-wheels, and a lot of nigger chasers.
1921 C. E. Mulford Bar-20 Three xvi. 217 Most likely they'll be nigger-chasers th' way some folks'll be steppin' lively to get out of th' way.
1958 J. M. Lacy in A. Dundes Mother Wit (1973) 597/2 He buys fireworks called ‘nigger chasers’.
nigger cloth n. now historical any hard-wearing, durable cloth designed to be worn by black slaves (cf. Negro cloth at Negro adj. 3(a)).
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric for specific purpose > [noun] > for clothing > for clothing for specific people
shepherd's greyc1640
Negro cloth1653
parish blue1830
negro felt1847
nigger cloth1857
stuff1889
1857 Chambers's Jrnl. 3 Jan. 3/2 The garments of..copper-coloured nigger cloth.
1860 J. G. Holland Miss Gilbert's Career iv. 61 You see he sells some of his nigger cloth for goods.
1955 W. Foster-Harris Look of Old West i. 38 Typically the cloth was linsey-woolsey... ‘Nigger cloth’ it was called. It had been much used for slaves' garments, [etc.].
nigger corner n. U.S. (offensive) (a) that part of a public building in which black people were permitted (obsolete); (b) an area in which black people live.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > public building > [noun] > part of
nigger corner1875
1875 Independent (N.Y.) 15 Apr. 15/2 They will hear ‘the same preaching’ from their ‘nigger’ corner, and will ‘receive the same sacraments’, after the whites have supped.
1894 ‘M. Twain’ in Cent. Mag. June 233/1 In the ‘nigger corner’ sat Chambers.
2000 Yale Bull. & Calendar 1 Sept. 5/3 The name of the street in this picture is Blakely Street, but this part of it, which was a dead end, was called Nigger Corner.
nigger dog n. U.S. rare (offensive) = negro dog n. at Negro n. and adj. Compounds 3.
ΚΠ
1877 J. M. Beard K.K.K. Sketches 147 Uncle Jack had been the proud proprietor of the largest and best known pack of ‘nigger dogs’ in the ‘Goober State’.
1945 B. A. Botkin Lay my Burden Down 122 I think I heared the nigger dogs and somebody on horseback.
nigger duck n. U.S. now rare (offensive) the North American black duck, Anas rubripes.
ΚΠ
1876 Fur, Fin & Feather Sept. 101/2 The gray duck..are obliged to tolerate in their society that..tough, shot-resisting thing which is commonly called ‘nigger duck’.
1923 U.S. Dept. Agric. Misc. Circular No. 13. 9 Black Duck... Niggerduck.
niggerfish n. North American now rare (offensive) the coney, Epinephelus fulvus (cf. Negro fish n. at Negro n. and adj. Compounds 3); (formerly also) the winter flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > family Serranidae (sea-bass) > [noun] > member of > miscellaneous types of
niggerfish1876
sand-fish1896
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Pleuronectiformes (flat-fish) > [noun] > family Pleuronectidae > pseudopleuronectes americanus (winter flounder)
winter flounder1814
mud dab1873
niggerfish1876
1876 G. B. Goode Catal. Fishes Bermudas 60 The red form corresponds to Terranus ouatalibe, and is known as the Nigger-fish.
1888 G. B. Goode Amer. Fishes 321 Next in importance to the Plaice, comes the Flat Fish, Pseudopleuronectes Americanus... New York anglers call it the ‘Nigger Fish’.
1933 Guide to John G. Shedd Aquarium 97 Epinephelidae—The groupers... Cephalopholis fulvus punctatus—Coney; Niggerfish.
nigger goose n. U.S. regional (offensive now rare) a cormorant; esp. the double-crested cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Pelecaniformes > [noun] > family Phalacrocoracidae > miscellaneous types of
scout1596
violet cormorant1785
guanay1860
nigger goose1909
1909 Zool. Ser. Field Mus. Nat. Hist. 9 309 Phalacrocorax auritus... Double-crested cormorant... Local name: Nigger Goose.
1941 R. Faherty Big Old Sun 313 You can eat curlew, or kill duck or coot or niggergoose if they come flying out yonder.
1984 E. Hoagland in Balancing Acts (1992) 319 Cormorants flew over, black, agile diving birds, which old fishermen across the South still like to call ‘nigger geese’ because they're dark and fly like geese.
niggerhair n. U.S. regional (offensive now rare) a red alga, Polysiphonia harveyi.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > algae > seaweed > [noun] > others
manatee grass1696
pepper dulse1724
pipeweed1755
sea-beard1777
Iceland sea grass1809
Porphyra1836
nullipore1840
sea-thread1843
niggerhair1852
lucky minnie's lines1853
marine sauce1866
hijiki1951
1852 Smithson. Contrib. Knowl. 5 ii. 41 This plant [sc. Polysiphonia arietina] is common in various places in Long Island Sound... ‘Pooh! that's what we call “nigger-hair”’.
1901 A. F. Arnold Sea-beach at Ebb-tide (ed. 2) 88 P[olysiphonia] harveyi... Called locally niggerhair.
nigger heel n. Nautical (offensive) an inward curve in the leech of a sail.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > sail > [noun] > curve in edge of sail
roach1794
nigger heel1901
1901 Rudder 12 302/2 The after leech would take an incurve or ‘nigger heel’, as sailmakers call it.
nigger-heeled adj. (of a sail) having such a curved leech.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > sail > [adjective] > type of leech
nigger-heeled1922
1922 C. G. Davis How Sails are Made (ed. 2) 63 A double-bighted sail would, if not carefully handled and hauled out too hard on peak and clew, become ‘nigger-heeled’, as a hollow leech was called.
1961 F. H. Burgess Dict. Sailing 150 Niggerheeled, said of the leech of a sail that curves inward of a line from peak to clew, and is therefore not roached.
nigger jockey n. Obsolete U.S. slang a person who deals in black slaves (in quot. 1895 in extended use).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trader > traders or dealers in specific articles > [noun] > in slaves
knave-seller1552
mango1602
Guinea merchant1719
slave-merchant1746
Guinea-man1756
Guinea trader1756
soul driver1774
Negro-dealer1799
slave-trader1813
nigger jockey1838
Negro-hunter1839
slaver1842
fleshmonger1845
man-dealer1860
blackbirder1876
1838 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker 2nd Ser. iii A nigger-jockey..is a gentleman that trades in niggers,—buys them in one state, and sells them in another, where they arn't known.
1895 O. Wister in Harper's Mag. Nov. 850/2 It was two of our own mounted escort [sic] that she saw out to the right of us... ‘Tell dem nigger jockeys I got no money.’
nigger lice n. U.S. regional (offensive) the prickly burrs of any of various plants, esp. the one-seeded segments of the jointed pods of a tick trefoil (genus Desmodium).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > non-British plants or herbs > [noun] > North American > North American ironweed
flat-top1859
nigger lice1933
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > leguminous plants > [noun] > tick-trefoil > bur of
nigger lice1933
1933 Sun (Baltimore) 11 Sept. 6/7 The iron weed with its deep color, and..great clumps of ‘nigger lice’.
1946 Sun (Baltimore) 2 Oct. 12/3 When I spoke the other day of ‘nigger lice’, I was referring to the tick trefoil, its scientific name.
1968 in Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. (1996) III. 798/1 [Maryland] Nigger lice.
nigger luck n. U.S. slang (offensive) exceptionally good luck (in later use also ironic).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > [noun] > good fortune > exceptionally
devil's luck1590
nigger luck1851
1851 R. Glisan Jrnl. Army Life (1874) 90 I occasionally made him a little envious by my nigger-luck, as he is pleased to term it.
1914 Collier's 1 Aug. 6 Just nigger luck!..That busher won't get another hit off me all season.
1994 C. Major Juba to Jive 322 Nigger luck, a term used ironically referring to good luck; putting the best face on a bad, if not tragic, situation.
nigger minstrel n. now historical = blackface minstrel at minstrel n. 3a.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musician > [noun] > black minstrel
nigger minstrel1844
Negro minstrel1853
end-man1865
corner-man1874
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > variety, etc. > performers in variety, etc. > [noun] > black minstrel
Ethiopian serenader1843
minstrel1843
Ethiopian1844
nigger minstrel1844
Christy's Minstrels1847
Negro minstrel1853
burnt-cork artist1880
1844 Era 9 June 6/1 The ‘Nigger’ Minstrels continue to attract good audiences.
1858 W. J. Hoppin Lady of Bed-chamber i. i. 13 One doesn't hear such an imitation as that every day. It beats the nigger minstrels.
1936 A. B. Paterson Shearer's Colt xiv. 152 I've been away out where the nigger minstrels come from, and I haven't seen a paper or heard a word of news.
1996 Guardian (Nexis) 10 June t12 Back in the inter-war years, when it was still possible to produce a nigger minstrel show, some black people happily did the coon dancing.
nigger rich adj. U.S. slang and regional (derogatory and offensive) suddenly and unfamiliarly wealthy; making extravagant or ostentatious use of (esp. newly acquired) wealth.
ΚΠ
1930 E. Gowen True Exposé Racketeers 81 In those sections of the South where the old traditions of gentle birth and culture still assert their ancient authority..there is commonly in use a vivid, brutal phrase to describe ostentatious display by the merely vulgar wealthy. The phrase is ‘nigger rich’.
1958 J. M. Brewer Dog Ghosts 77 Dey name hit de silk-stockin' chu'ch 'caze dey ain't nothin' but Nigguh-rich folks what kin b'long to hit.
1994 C. McCarthy Crossing 179 Now you're rich, Billy said. Nigger-rich, said Boyd.
nigger-shooter n. U.S. slang (offensive now rare) a catapult.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > [noun] > catapult
manubalista1460
catapult1577
siege engine1763
slingshot1849
shanghai1863
nigger-shooter1876
catty1893
1876 E. W. Heap Diary 26 Feb. in Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. (1969) lii. 53 I had a job on hand making Nigger shooters for Dr's children.
1901 G. Ade 40 Mod. Fables 172 All you wanted to do was to tear out with those Toughs and kill Birds with Nigger-Shooters.
1996 San Antonio (Texas) Express-News (Nexis) 18 Jan. 2 a The slingshot in those days had a nickname that was decidedly not politically correct..it was a nigger-shooter.
nigger stick n. U.S. slang (offensive) a stick or truncheon carried by a police officer, prison guard, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military organization > insignia > [noun] > staff or stick
leading-staff1598
vine-rod1601
vine-wand1601
leading-weapon1622
swagger-stick1887
swagger-cane1888
nigger stick1971
1971 N.Y. Post 15 Sept. 36 Nigger sticks.
1971 Guardian 18 Sept. 11/7 Conditions inside American prisons... Prisoners live their lives at the end of gun barrels and what are often known as ‘nigger-sticks’.
1994 Newsday (Nexis) 24 Apr. a38 The weapon of choice is a truncheon with a 90-degree handle for increased leverage..a ‘nigger stick’.
nigger toe n. U.S. slang (offensive) (a) a variety of potato (obsolete); (b) a Brazil nut.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > edible nuts or nut-trees > [noun] > brazil nut
juvia?1841
Para nut1848
nigger toe1853
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > nut > [noun] > Brazil nut
Para nut1848
nigger toe1853
1853 Trans. Michigan Agric. Soc. (1854) 5 208 Some of the more approved [kinds of potatoes] are..the Niggertoe, the Meshannock, the Cumberland Kempt.
1896 Dial. Notes 1 421 Nigger toes: for Brazil nuts.
1946 H. L. Mencken in W. S. Knickerbocker 20th Cent. Eng. 149 Niggertoe..was once used to designate a variety of potato.
1997 Record (Bergen County, New Jersey) (Nexis) 6 July a7 She asks to buy nuts from the display case. ‘You want some of these nigger toes?’ asks the woman.
Niggertown n. (also niggertown) U.S. slang (now offensive) a neighbourhood with predominantly black residents.
ΚΠ
1892 Scribner's Mag. July 12 He asked where I had been, and on telling him that I came fresh from ‘The Dive’, ‘The Bad Lands’, ‘Biler Avenue’, ‘Niggertown’, ‘Chinatown’, etc., he asked if these were not poor enough.
1932 W. Faulkner Light in August xv. 333 She was always around that little house in Niggertown where they live.
1997 Chicago Rev. 43 No. 2. 12 In the mid-1950s, Tulsa was a segregated city, with an industrial zone separating ‘Niggertown’ from the rest of the city.
Niggerville n. U.S. slang (now offensive) = Niggertown n.
ΚΠ
1857 H. R. Helper Impending Crisis South 18 Like all other niggervilles in our disreputable part of the confederacy, the commercial emporium of South Carolina is sick and impoverished.
1968 in Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. (1996) III. 801/1 Niggerville.
1998 San Francisco Chron. (Electronic ed.) 30 July a19 Callers..couldn't resist popping off a few monikers for the struggling Peninsula city... The name some East Palo Altans found most objectionable was Niggerville.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

niggerv.

Brit. /ˈnɪɡə/, U.S. /ˈnɪɡər/
Forms: see nigger n.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: nigger n.
Etymology: < nigger n.
U.S. colloquial. Now rare (offensive).
1.
a. transitive. To section off (a log, etc.) by burning or charring at intervals. Also with off. Now historical.
ΚΠ
a1813 [implied in: B. Rush Acct. Manners German Inhabitants Pennsylvania Index 72/1 Niggering-off. (at niggering n.)].
1833 S. Smith Life & Writings Major Jack Downing 22 He laid sticks across the large logs.., and niggered them off with fire, and then roolled [sic] them up in piles.
1883 E. Briggs Hist. Orig. Town of Concord xiv. 111 A custom prevailed to some extent with the choppers to ‘nigger off’ the largest logs while they were chopping up the smaller ones.
1905 M. G. Sherk Pen Pict. Early Pioneer Life Upper Canada 49 To save the time and labor of cutting the fallen trees into lengths for being drawn together by the oxen, they were often ‘niggered’.
1909 W. A. Ross Hist. Zorra 18 I've seen those old settlers ‘niggar’ the fallen logs—that is, they would build a small fire on top of the fallen logs..and keep it burning until it was burnt through.
1938 I. S. Davis Story of Church v. 29 Some of the elms were so large that we had to ‘nigger’ them off. They were too large to be cut with a crosscut saw.
b. transitive. With out. To exhaust (land) by overfarming (see quots.). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > land suitable for cultivation > exhaust land [verb (transitive)] > exhaust
wear?1507
to wear out1586
drive1645
to run out1698
overcrop1743
exhaust1787
overteem1818
skin1845
nigger1859
overplant1890
1859 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 2) To nigger out land, signifies..to exhaust land by the mode of tilling without fertilization pursued in the slave States.
1872 M. S. De Vere Americanisms 116 The same regions are familiar with the phrase niggering out land, which marks the improvident and destructive method of working the same field, year after year, without manure.
2. intransitive. To behave or live supposedly in the manner of a black slave; (in later use esp.) to work very hard, do menial work. Also transitive with it.
ΚΠ
1857 J. Hyde Mormonism v. 120 Many of the people express satisfaction in seeing these ‘better-dressed fellers’ obliged to ‘nigger it’ as well as themselves.
1862 R. F. Burton City of Saints (ed. 2) 432 They look with horror at the position of the ‘slavey’ of a pauper mechanic at being required to ‘nigger it’ upon love and starvation.
1899 Sat. Evening Post 2 Sept. 147 I've been ‘niggerin'’ for some cooks of a volunteer regiment.
2003 www.artic.edu 18 Feb. (O.E.D. Archive) The Ecole des Beaux Arts in France was exactly the same thing. I niggered—the word ‘niggered’ means to help or be of assistance.
3. transitive. To alter (one's voice, appearance, etc.) so as to resemble that of a black person. Also with up. (In quot. 1881 used reflexively) See also niggering n. rare.
ΚΠ
1881 M. Crommelin Miss Daisy Dimity I. ii. 21 Jemmy the third, was ‘niggering’ himself, by adorning his rosy cheeks with black.
2000 San Francisco Bay Guardian (Electronic ed.) 25 Oct. Someone..who thought it would be funny if this African-American character..if we were to, and this is a quote, ‘nigger up his voice’. That is to have him speak in a more shuck-and-jive dialect.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.adj.1577v.a1813
随便看

 

英语词典包含1132095条英英释义在线翻译词条,基本涵盖了全部常用单词的英英翻译及用法,是英语学习的有利工具。

 

Copyright © 2004-2022 Newdu.com All Rights Reserved
更新时间:2025/3/21 21:25:08