Word.ws English Dictionary

niger

/ˈnaɪd͡ʒə(ɹ)//ˈnaɪ.d͡ʒə(ɹ)/

niger noun: an Ethiopian herb (Guizotia abyssinica), grown for its seed and edible oil.

niger: an Ethiopian herb (Guizotia abyssinica), grown for its seed and edible oil
Image: Silvestresbrasileiros, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

niger (uncountable)

  1. An Ethiopian herb (Guizotia abyssinica), grown for its seed and edible oil.
    Synonyms:
    noog, noug, nug

Proper noun capitalized: Niger

Niger or the Niger

  1. A country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria. Official name: Republic of the Niger.
    • An American aid worker who was kidnapped in Niger more than six years ago and held hostage by terrorists has been released, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan tweeted on Monday.2023 March 20, Kylie Atwood, “American citizen held hostage for 6 years in West Africa has been freed”, in CNN
  2. A major river in West Africa that flows into the Gulf of Guinea in Nigeria.
    • From here we can see the River Niger in the distance running across town, a long gleaming diamond in the horizon.2023, Stephen Buoro, The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa, Bloomsbury Circus, page 290
  3. A state of Nigeria in the North Central geopolitical zone. Capital and largest city: Minna.
    • Gunshots rang out in the capital Abuja and also in the neighboring Niger state as police lobbed tear gas to disperse defiant protesters. In Niger, at least six people are now feared dead, local media reported.2024 August 1, Nimi Princewill and Stephanie Busari, “Violence erupts as Nigerians protest hunger across the nation”, in CNN

niger meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

niger in Hindi

नाइजर, नाइगर, नाईजर

niger in Tamil

பேயௌ, பேய் எள்

niger in Marathi

नायजर, नायझर, नाईजर

niger in Urdu

نائجر, نائیجر, نائگر
More languagesFewer languages
niger in Bengali
নাইজারনদী
niger in Telugu
నైగర్, నైజర్
niger in Malayalam
നൈഗർ, നൈജർ, നൈഗേർ
niger in Kannada
ನೈಜರ್
niger in Punjabi
ਨਾਈਜਰ, ਨਾਇਜਰ, ਨਾਈਗਰ
niger in Gujarati
નાઇજર, નાઈજર, નાઇગર
niger in Odia
ନାଇଜର, ନାଇଗର୍
niger in Nepali
नाइजर, नाइगर

Synonyms of niger

Origin of niger

From the name of the Niger River, from Latin Nigris. See further etymology at Niger.

Borrowed from French Niger. For further etymology, commonly linked by folk etymology to Latin niger (“black”), which likely influenced the modern spelling. Some sources give the term to Tuareg roots, deriving it from a claimed gher n-gheren or egereou n-igereouen (“river of rivers”). Compare Tarifit iɣzar-n-iɣezran. Older sources derive Niger, via a series of mistranslations and geographic misplacements by Greek, Roman and Arab geographers, from Ptolemy's descriptions of the wadi Gir (in modern Algeria) and the "Lower Gir" (or "Ni-Gir") to the south.

Words formed from niger

Phrases with niger

Questions about niger

What does niger mean?
Niger means an Ethiopian herb (Guizotia abyssinica), grown for its seed and edible oil.
What is niger in Hindi?
Niger in Hindi is नाइजर, नाइगर, नाईजर. See Niger meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is niger?
Niger can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce niger?
Niger is pronounced /ˈnaɪd͡ʒə(ɹ)/.

Words near niger in the dictionary

  1. nigella
  2. nigellas
  3. nigelline
  4. nigellone
  5. Nigels
  6. niger
  7. Niger seed
  8. Niger seeds
  9. Niger-Congo
  10. Niger-Congos
  11. Niger-Kordofanian

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: niger (page history and authors); Niger (page history and authors); niger (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); niger (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); niger (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); niger (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); niger (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); niger (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); niger (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); Niger (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); niger (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); niger (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); niger (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); niger (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Soundguys-Niger.wav, en-us-Niger.ogg.

Cite this entry: “niger.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/niger. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.