Etymograph

English

denigrate

Denigrate comes from Latin dēnigrō ‘to blacken’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *negʷ- ‘bare, naked’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*negʷ-1‘bare, naked’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEniger1‘wan, shining black’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnigrō1‘to be black’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēnigrō2‘to blacken’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēnigrātus2perfect passive participle of dēnigrō
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1960denigrate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin denigro
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English denigrate
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1960, O. S. Nock, British Locomotive Practice and Performance: “What grand engines they were! Yet I have noticed…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*negʷ-Wiktionary, Latin denigro‘bare, naked’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnigerWiktionary, Latin denigro‘wan, shining black’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnigrōWiktionary, Latin denigro‘to be black’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēnigrōWiktionary, English denigrate‘to blacken’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēnigrātusWiktionary, English denigrateperfect passive participle of dēnigrō
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1960denigrateWiktionary, English denigrate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1960, O. S. Nock, British Locomotive Practice and Performance: “What grand engines they were! Yet I have noticed…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *negʷ- ‘bare, naked’

night, naked, nude, gymnastics, negro, nocturnal, gymnasium, actin, gymnast, naga, nox, nocturne, nudism, 50 more

through Latin niger ‘wan, shining black’

noir, niger, nigger, nigella, negroni, 17 more

Today it means

verb To criticize so as to besmirch; traduce, disparage or defame.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “denigrate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin denigro. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *negʷ- / denigrate

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