Etymograph

English

Nigel

Nigel comes from Latin Nigellus ‘slightly black’, and goes back to niger.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEniger‘black’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CENigellus‘slightly black’diminutive of niger
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1822Nigel

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history not traced here.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEniger‘black’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CENigellus‘slightly black’diminutive of niger
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1822Nigel

Earliest quotation: 1822, Walter Scott: “'I thought, sir,' answered Nigel, with as much haughtiness…”

The story

English form of Latin Nigellus, from nigellus (‘slightly black’), diminutive of niger (‘black’), used in the Middle Ages to Latinize Norman Néel and Old Irish Níall, from which the former is derived via Old Norse Njáll.

Linked words

through Latin niger ‘black’

noir, nigger, niger, denigrate, negroni, 18 more

Today it means

name A male given name from Latin, of mostly British usage.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin niger / Nigel

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