Niger

See also: niger, and Níger

English

Niger

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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈnaɪ.d͡ʒə(ɹ)/ or, for the country, also /niːˈʒɛə(ɹ)/
• (General American) enPR: nīʹjər, IPA^(key): /ˈnaɪ.d͡ʒɚ/ or, for the country, also enPR: nēzhârʹ, /niːˈʒɛɚ/

  The second pronunciations of the country's name follow how it is pronounced in French, the official language of Niger.

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪd͡ʒə(ɹ), -ɛə(ɹ)

Proper noun

Niger or the Niger

2. A country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria. Official name: Republic of the Niger.
4. A major river in West Africa that flows into the Gulf of Guinea in Nigeria.
   • 2023, Stephen Buoro, The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa, Bloomsbury Circus, page 290:

     From here we can see the River Niger in the distance running across town, a long gleaming diamond in the horizon.

5. A state of Nigeria in the North Central geopolitical zone. Capital and largest city: Minna.

Hypernyms

• Subsahara

Meronyms

• (regions of Niger) region of Niger; Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Niamey, Tahoua, Tillabéri, Zinder,

Related terms

• Nigeria
• Nigerien
• Nigerois
• Proto-Volta-Niger
• Republic of Niger
• Transnigerian

Descendants

• → Japanese: ナイジャ (Naija)

Translations

country

• Afrikaans: Niger
• Amharic: ኒጄር (niǧer)
• Arabic: النِّيجَر f (an-nījar)

  Egyptian Arabic: نيچير f (nijēr) النيچر f (en-náyjar)

• Aramaic:

  Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܢܝܼܓ̰ܲܪ f (nījar)

• Armenian: Նիգեր (Niger)
• Azerbaijani: Niger (az)
• Belarusian: Ні́гер m (Níhjer)
• Bengali: নাইজার (bn) (naijar)
• Breton: Niger
• Bulgarian: Ни́гер m (Níger)
• Burmese: နိုင်ဂျာ (nuinggya)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 尼日爾／尼日尔 (zh) (Nírì'ěr), 尼日 (zh) (Nírì)

• Corsican: Nìger m
• Czech: Niger (cs) m
• Danish: Niger (da) n
• Dhivehi: ނީޖަރު (nījaru)
• Dutch: Niger (nl) n
• Esperanto: Niĝero (eo), Niĝerlando
• Estonian: Niger (et)
• Faroese: Niger
• Finnish: Niger (fi)
• French: Niger (fr) m
• Fula: please add this translation if you can
• Galician: Níxer (gl) m
• Georgian: ნიგერი (ka) (nigeri)
• German: Niger (de)
• Greek: Νίγηρας (el) n (Nígiras)
• Hausa: Nijar
• Hebrew: ניז׳ר f (nijer)
• Hindi: नाइजर (hi) m (nāijar)
• Hungarian: Niger (hu)
• Icelandic: Níger (is) n
• Interlingua: Niger
• Irish: An Nígir f, Poblacht na Nígire f
• Italian: Niger (it) m
• Japanese: ニジェール (ja) (Nijēru)
• Kalenjin: Naija
• Kamba: Naija
• Kanuri: please add this translation if you can
• Kazakh: Нигер (kk) (Niger)
• Khmer: នីហ្សេ (km) (niizee)
• Kikuyu: Naija
• Korean: 니제르 (ko) (Nijereu)
• Kyrgyz: Нигер (Niger)
• Latgalian: Nigereja f
• Latvian: Nigēra (lv) f
• Lithuanian: Nigeris (lt) m
• Luhya: Naija
• Luo: Naija
• Macedonian: Нигер m (Niger)
• Maori: Ngāika
• Meru: Naija
• Mingrelian: ნიგერი (nigeri)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: Нигер (Niger)

• Norman: Niger m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Niger (no) n

  Nynorsk: Niger (nn) n

• Persian: نیجِر (nijer)
• Polish: Niger (pl) m
• Portuguese: Níger (pt)
• Romanian: Niger (ro) n
• Russian: Ни́гер (ru) m (Níger), Ниге́р (ru) m (Nigér)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Ни̏гер m

  Roman: Nȉger (sh) m

• Sinhalese: නයිජර් (nayijar)
• Slovak: Niger m
• Slovene: Niger (sl) m
• Spanish: Níger (es)
• Swahili: Nijeri (sw)
• Swedish: Niger (sv) n
• Tagalog: Niher
• Tagdal: please add this translation if you can
• Tajik: Ниҷер (Nijer)
• Thai: ไนเจอร์ (th) (nai-jə̂ə)
• Tigrinya: ናይጀር (nayǧär)
• Tuareg: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: Nijer (tr)
• Ukrainian: Ні́гер (uk) m (Níher), Ніґе́р m (Nigér)
• Urdu: نائجر m
• Uzbek: Niger (uz)
• Vietnamese: Ni-giê
• Yoruba: Náíjà
• Zarma: please add this translation if you can

river

• Afrikaans: Nigerrivier
• Arabic:

  Egyptian Arabic: نهر النيچر m (nahr en-náyjar)

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 尼日爾河／尼日尔河 (zh) (Nírì'ěr Hé)

• Dutch: Niger (nl) m
• Esperanto: Niĝero (eo)
• French: Niger (fr) m
• Fula: please add this translation if you can
• Galician: Níxer (gl) m
• German: Niger (de) m
• Greek: Νίγηρας (el) n (Nígiras)
• Hausa: Kwara
• Ibibio: please add this translation if you can
• Icelandic: Nígerfljót n
• Igbo: Òrìmili
• Izon: please add this translation if you can
• Japanese: ニジェール (ja) (Nijēru)
• Kanuri: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: Nigeris (lt) m
• Macedonian: Нигер m (Niger)
• Nupe: Èdù
• Portuguese: Níger (pt) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Нигер m

  Roman: Niger (sh) m

• Slovak: Niger m
• Swedish: Niger (sv)
• Tagdal: please add this translation if you can
• Tuareg: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: Nijer (tr)
• Yoruba: Ọya
• Zarma: please add this translation if you can

See also

• Appendix:Countries of the world
• (countries of Africa) countries of Africa; Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zambia, Zimbabwe ^{(Category: en:Countries in Africa) [edit]}

Further reading

• Niger on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• re-nig, Reign, Negri, reign, ringe, renig, Grine, Reing, Grein, nigre

Afrikaans

Proper noun

Niger

1. Niger (a country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria; capital: Niamey)

Derived terms

• Nigerees
• Nigers
• Nigeryn

Central Huasteca Nahuatl

Proper noun

Niger

1. Niger (a country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria)

Central Nahuatl

Proper noun

Niger

1. Niger (a country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria)

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈnɪɡɛr]

Proper noun

Niger m inan (related adjective nigerský, demonym Nigeřan)

1. Niger (a country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria)
2. Niger (a major river in West Africa, that flows into the Gulf of Guinea in Nigeria)

Declension

Declension of Niger (sg-only hard masculine inanimate)

	singular
nominative	Niger
genitive	Nigeru
dative	Nigeru
accusative	Niger
vocative	Nigere
locative	Nigeru
instrumental	Nigerem

Further reading

• “Niger”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
• “Niger”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “Niger”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech)

Dutch

Etymology

Probably borrowed from French Niger.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈni.ɣər/, /ˈni.ɣɛr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Ni‧ger

Proper noun

Niger n

1. Niger (a country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria)

Derived terms

• Nigerees

Finnish

Etymology

From French Niger.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈniɡer/, [ˈniɡe̞r]
• Rhymes: -iɡer
• Syllabification^(key): Ni‧ger

Proper noun

Niger

1. Niger (a country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria)

Declension

Inflection of Niger (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		Niger	—
genitive		Nigerin	—
partitive		Nigeriä	—
illative		Nigeriin	—
		singular	plural
nominative		Niger	—
accusative	nom.	Niger	—
	gen.	Nigerin
genitive		Nigerin	—
partitive		Nigeriä	—
inessive		Nigerissä	—
elative		Nigeristä	—
illative		Nigeriin	—
adessive		Nigerillä	—
ablative		Nigeriltä	—
allative		Nigerille	—
essive		Nigerinä	—
translative		Nigeriksi	—
abessive		Nigerittä	—
instructive		—	—
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of Niger (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative Nigerini — accusative nom. Nigerini — gen. Nigerini genitive Nigerini — partitive Nigeriäni — inessive Nigerissäni — elative Nigeristäni — illative Nigeriini — adessive Nigerilläni — ablative Nigeriltäni — allative Nigerilleni — essive Nigerinäni — translative Nigerikseni — abessive Nigerittäni — instructive — — comitative — — second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative Nigerisi — accusative nom. Nigerisi — gen. Nigerisi genitive Nigerisi — partitive Nigeriäsi — inessive Nigerissäsi — elative Nigeristäsi — illative Nigeriisi — adessive Nigerilläsi — ablative Nigeriltäsi — allative Nigerillesi — essive Nigerinäsi — translative Nigeriksesi — abessive Nigerittäsi — instructive — — comitative — — first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative Nigerimme — accusative nom. Nigerimme — gen. Nigerimme genitive Nigerimme — partitive Nigeriämme — inessive Nigerissämme — elative Nigeristämme — illative Nigeriimme — adessive Nigerillämme — ablative Nigeriltämme — allative Nigerillemme — essive Nigerinämme — translative Nigeriksemme — abessive Nigerittämme — instructive — — comitative — — second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative Nigerinne — accusative nom. Nigerinne — gen. Nigerinne genitive Nigerinne — partitive Nigeriänne — inessive Nigerissänne — elative Nigeristänne — illative Nigeriinne — adessive Nigerillänne — ablative Nigeriltänne — allative Nigerillenne — essive Nigerinänne — translative Nigeriksenne — abessive Nigerittänne — instructive — — comitative — — third-person possessor singular plural nominative Nigerinsä — accusative nom. Nigerinsä — gen. Nigerinsä genitive Nigerinsä — partitive Nigeriään Nigeriänsä — inessive Nigerissään Nigerissänsä — elative Nigeristään Nigeristänsä — illative Nigeriinsä — adessive Nigerillään Nigerillänsä — ablative Nigeriltään Nigeriltänsä — allative Nigerilleen Nigerillensä — essive Nigerinään Nigerinänsä — translative Nigerikseen Nigeriksensä — abessive Nigerittään Nigerittänsä — instructive — — comitative — —

Derived terms

• nigeriläinen

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni.ʒɛʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Niger m

1. Niger (a country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria)

Derived terms

• Nigérien (“Nigerien”), Nigérienne
• nigérien

Descendants

• Japanese: ニジェール (Nijēru)

See also

• Nigérian (“Nigerian, resident or native of Nigeria”), Nigériane
• nigérian

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈniːɡɐ]

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

der Niger m (proper noun, strong, usually definite, definite genitive des Niger or des Nigers) or
Niger n (proper noun, genitive Nigers or (optionally with an article) Niger)

1. Niger (a country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria)

   Synonyms: Republik Niger, (obsolete) Nigerien n

Derived terms

• Nigrer
• nigrisch

Proper noun

der Niger m (proper noun, strong, usually definite, definite genitive des Niger or des Nigers)

1. Niger (a major river in West Africa, that flows into the Gulf of Guinea in Nigeria)

Related terms

• Nigeria

See also

• Nigerianer (“Nigerian, person from Nigeria”)
• nigerianisch
• (countries of Africa) Staaten Afrikas; Ägypten, Algerien, Angola, Äquatorialguinea, Äthiopien, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Dschibuti, Elfenbeinküste, Eritrea, Eswatini, Gabun, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kamerun, Kap Verde, Kenia, Komoren, Demokratische Republik Kongo, Republik Kongo, Lesotho, Liberia, Libyen, Madagaskar, Malawi, Mali, Marokko, Mauretanien, Mauritius, Mosambik, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Ruanda, Sambia, São Tomé und Príncipe, Senegal, Seychellen, Sierra Leone, Simbabwe, Somalia, Südafrika, Sudan, Südsudan, Tansania, Togo, Tschad, Tunesien, Uganda, Zentralafrikanische Republik ^{(Category: de:Countries in Africa)}

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈniɡɛr]
• Hyphenation: Ni‧ger
• Rhymes: -ɛr

Proper noun

Niger

1. Niger (a country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria)
2. Niger (a major river in West Africa, that flows into the Gulf of Guinea in Nigeria)

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	Niger	—
accusative	Nigert	—
dative	Nigernek	—
instrumental	Nigerrel	—
causal-final	Nigerért	—
translative	Nigerré	—
terminative	Nigerig	—
essive-formal	Nigerként	—
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	Nigerben	—
superessive	Nigeren	—
adessive	Nigernél	—
illative	Nigerbe	—
sublative	Nigerre	—
allative	Nigerhez	—
elative	Nigerből	—
delative	Nigerről	—
ablative	Nigertől	—
non-attributive possessive - singular	Nigeré	—
non-attributive possessive - plural	Nigeréi	—

Possessive forms of Niger
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	Nigerem	—
2nd person sing.	Nigered	—
3rd person sing.	Nigere, Nigerje	—
1st person plural	Nigerünk	—
2nd person plural	Nigeretek	—
3rd person plural	Nigerük, Nigerjük	—

Derived terms

• nigeri

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈni.d͡ʒer/
• Rhymes: -idʒer
• Hyphenation: Nì‧ger

Proper noun

Niger m

1. Niger (a country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria)
2. Niger (a major river in West Africa, that flows into the Gulf of Guinea in Nigeria)

Derived terms

• nigerino

Anagrams

• negri, regni

Latin

Etymology

From niger (“black, dark”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈni.ɡer/, [ˈnɪɡɛr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈni.d͡ʒer/, [ˈniːd͡ʒer]

Proper noun

Niger m (genitive Nigrī); second declension

1. A Roman agnomen, or "nickname"
   • (Marcus Valerius Messalla Niger, Aquilius Niger)[1]

Declension

Second-declension noun (nominative singular in -er).

	singular	plural
nominative	Niger	Nigrī
genitive	Nigrī	Nigrōrum
dative	Nigrō	Nigrīs
accusative	Nigrum	Nigrōs
ablative	Nigrō	Nigrīs
vocative	Niger	Nigrī

Proper noun

Niger m sg (genitive Nigris); third declension

1. Niger (a major river in West Africa, that flows into the Gulf of Guinea in Nigeria)
   • 1534, Joachim Vadianus, Epitome trium terrae partium Asiae, Africae et Europae compendiariam...:

     Efficit autem hoc suo flexu, ut etiam ultra Athlantem Africa ad usque Nigrim fluuium excurrat, Plinio & Ptolemaeo.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Third-declension noun, singular only.

	singular
nominative	Niger
genitive	Nigris
dative	Nigrī
accusative	Nigrim
ablative	Nigre
vocative	Niger

References

• “Niger”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Further reading

• “Niger”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Niger”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Norwegian Bokmål

Proper noun

Niger

1. Niger (a country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria)

Related terms

• nigerer
• nigersk

Norwegian Nynorsk

Proper noun

Niger

1. Niger (a country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria)

Related terms

• nigerar
• nigersk

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɲi.ɡɛr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iɡɛr
• Syllabification: Ni‧ger

Proper noun

Niger m inan (related adjective nigerski)

1. Niger (a country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria)
2. Niger (a major river in West Africa, that flows into the Gulf of Guinea in Nigeria)

Declension

Declension of Niger

	singular
nominative	Niger
genitive	Nigru
dative	Nigrowi
accusative	Niger
instrumental	Nigrem
locative	Nigrze
vocative	Nigrze

Derived terms

• Nigerczyk
• Nigerka

 

See also

• (countries of Africa) państwa Afryki; Algieria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Czad, Demokratyczna Republika Konga, Dżibuti, Egipt, Erytrea, Eswatini, Etiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Gwinea, Gwinea Bissau, Gwinea Równikowa, Kamerun, Kenia, Komory, Kongo, Lesotho, Liberia, Libia, Madagaskar, Malawi, Mali, Maroko, Mauretania, Mauritius, Mozambik, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Południowa Afryka, Republika Środkowoafrykańska, Republika Zielonego Przylądka, Rwanda, Sahara Zachodnia, Senegal, Seszele, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Sudan Południowy, Tanzania, Togo, Tunezja, Uganda, Wybrzeże Kości Słoniowej, Wyspy Świętego Tomasza i Książęca, Zambia, Zimbabwe ^{(Category: pl:Countries in Africa) [edit]}

Further reading

• Niger in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nîɡer/
• Hyphenation: Ni‧ger

Proper noun

Nȉger m (Cyrillic spelling Ни̏гер)

1. Niger (a country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria)
2. Niger (a major river in West Africa, that flows into the Gulf of Guinea in Nigeria)

Declension

Declension of Niger

	singular
nominative	Niger
genitive	Nigera
dative	Nigeru
accusative	Niger
vocative	Nigere
locative	Nigeru
instrumental	Nigerom

Swahili

Proper noun

Niger

1. Niger (a country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria)

See also

• (countries of Africa) nchi za Afrika; Algeria or Aljeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Kamerun or Cameroon or Kameruni, Jamhuri ya Afrika ya Kati, Chad or Chadi, Komori or Visiwa vya Ngazija, Cote d'Ivoire or Kodivaa, Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo or Kongo-Kinshasa, Jibuti or Djibouti, Misri or Umisri, Guinea ya Ikweta or Ginekweta, Eritrea, Ethiopia or Uhabeshi or Habeshi, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea or Gine or Gini, Guinea Bisau or Guinea-Bisau or Ginebisau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagaska or Bukini, Malawi or Unyasa, Mali, Mauritania, Morisi, Mayotte, Moroko or Maroko, Msumbiji or Mozambik, Namibia, Niger or Nijeri, Nigeria or Nijeria or Naijeria, Jamhuri ya Kongo or Kongo-Brazzaville, Réunion, Rwanda or Ruanda, Mtakatifu Helena, Sao Tome na Principe, Senegal or Senegali, Shelisheli, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Afrika Kusini, Sudan Kusini, Sudan, Uswazi or Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Sahara ya Magharibi, Zambia, Zimbabwe ^{(Category: sw:Countries in Africa) [edit]}

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /niːɡɛr/

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Niger n (genitive Nigers)

1. Niger (a country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria)

Related terms

• nigerer
• nigerier
• nigerisk
• nigeriska

Further reading

• Niger in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker
• Utrikes namnbok (12th ed., 2024)
• Svensk MeSH

Anagrams

• Inger, inger, regin, ringe