English
denigrate
Denigrate comes from Latin dēnigrō ‘to blacken’, and goes back to niger.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEniger‘wan, shining black’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnigrō‘to be black’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēnigrō‘to blacken’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēnigrātusperfect passive participle of dēnigrō
- Englishearliest quotation 1960denigrate
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEniger‘wan, shining black’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnigrō‘to be black’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēnigrō‘to blacken’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēnigrātusperfect passive participle of dēnigrō
- Englishearliest quotation 1960denigrate
Earliest quotation: 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’
Today it means
verb To criticize so as to besmirch; traduce, disparage or defame.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin niger / denigrate