negro

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*negʷ-“bare; night”
2. Latin · derived fromnigrum“shiny black”
3. Spanish and Portuguese · borrowed fromnegro“black”
4. English todaynegro

Borrowed from Spanish and Portuguese negro (“black”), from Latin nigrum (“shiny black”), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *negʷ- (“bare; night”). Doublet of noir. Compare nigrescence.

Words from the same roots