Etymograph

English

negro

Negro comes from es,pt negro ‘black’, and goes back to Latin nigrum.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnigrum1‘shiny black’
  2. es,ptmodernnegro1‘black’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1864negro1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English negro
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1864, William Tecumseh Sherman: “We don't want your Negroes, or your horses, or…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnigrumWiktionary, English negro‘shiny black’
  2. es,ptmodernnegroWiktionary, English negro‘black’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1864negroWiktionary, English negro. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1864, William Tecumseh Sherman: “We don't want your Negroes, or your horses, or…”

The story

Borrowed from Spanish and Portuguese negro (‘black’), from Latin nigrum (‘shiny black’), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *negʷ- (‘bare; night’).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

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

night, naked, nude, gymnastics, noir, nigger, nocturnal, gymnasium, actin, gymnast, naga, nox, denigrate, nocturne, nigella, nudism, 51 more

Today it means

adj Relating to a black ethnicity.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “negro”. 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 / Latin nigrum / negro

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