Etymograph

English

negroni

Negroni comes from Italian negro ‘black’, and goes back to Latin niger.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnigeras nigrum‘wan, shining black’
  2. Italianc. 1300–presentnegroas negri‘black’
  3. Italian, derivedc. 1300–presentnegroni
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2012same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnigeras nigrum‘wan, shining black’
  2. Italianc. 1300–presentnegroas negri‘black’
  3. Italian, derivedc. 1300–presentnegroni
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2012same form

Earliest quotation: 2012, Matthew Engel, Let’s do lunch!: “The main item on the agenda was alcohol, not…”

The story

The origin of the drink's name is disputed.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it. The drink is most often said to be named after Count Camillo Negroni (1868–1934), who asked for an early form of this cocktail.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *nókʷts ‘night’

nights, nightly, 26 more

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

night, naked, nude, gymnastics, nocturnal, gymnasium, actin, gymnast, naga, nox, nocturne, nudism, 51 more

through Latin niger ‘wan, shining black’

noir, niger, nigger, denigrate, nigella, 17 more

Today it means

noun A cocktail consisting of gin, Campari and vermouth, usually in equal parts.

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

Etymograph / Latin niger / negroni

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