Niger Definition

nījər
noun
A plant (Guizotia abyssinica) of the composite family native to northeast Africa, having yellow flower heads and grown for its oil-rich seeds, often used for birdseed.
American Heritage
Synonyms:
pronoun

A country in Western Africa situated to the north of Nigeria. Official name: Republic of Niger.

Wiktionary

A river in Africa that flows into the Gulf of Guinea in Nigeria.

Wiktionary

Origin of Niger

  • Frequently misidentified as derived from the Latin niger (“black"), Niger is derived from a series of mistranslations and geographic misplacements by Greek, Roman and Arab geographers, likely originally from Ptolomey's descriptions of the valley Gir (a wadi in modern Algeria), and the "Lower Gir" ("Ni-Gir") to the south. In one local Berber language, "gher" means "watercourse", and thus may have been derived from Berber tales of large river south of the Sahara desert.

    From Wiktionary

  • From earlier niger seed probably after the Niger River in West Africa, where it is widely grown

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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