Not sure what the point of this thread is supposed to be.
Irrespective of where the orgin of the word comes from, it doesn't make it any less offensive.
why is the word offensive - because it sounds similar to a word that is offensive? even though the accent is different and they are spelled differently? niggard vs nigger
should the word kite be banned because it sounds like kike
is the science of philology to be discarded and lost because it is not politically correct?
...from the Oxford English Dictionary
Philology
1. Love of learning and literature; the branch of knowledge that deals with the historical, linguistic, interpretative, and critical aspects of literature; literary or classical scholarship. Now chiefly
U.S.
By the late 19th cent. this general sense had become
rare, but it was revived, principally in the United States, in the early 20th cent. For a fuller discussion of this, see A. Morpurgo Davies
Hist. Linguistics (1998)
4 I. 22.
1522 J. SKELTON Why come ye nat to Court in
Compl. Eng. Poems (1983) 292 Nor of philosophy, Nor of philology, Nor of good pollycy, Nor of astronomy.
1612 J. SELDEN in M. Drayton
Poly-olbion I. Pref. sig. A4, This later age..hath, in our greatest Latine Critiques..so receiued that Saturnian Language, that, to Students in Philology, it is now grown familiar.
a1661 T. FULLER Worthies (1662) I. 26 Philology properly is Terse and Polite Learning,
melior literatura... But we take it in the larger notion, as inclusive of all human liberal Studies.
1669 T. GALE Court Gentiles I. I. x. 50 Philologie, according to its original, and primitive import..implies an universal love, or respect to human Literature.
1702 C. MATHER Magnalia Christi II. v. 18/1 Such Philology as that of Suidas and Hesychius.
1776 G. CAMPBELL Philos. of Rhetoric I. I. v. 150 All the branches of philology, such as history, civil, ecclesiastic, and literary; grammar, languages, jurisprudence, and criticism.
1818 H. HALLAM View Europe Middle Ages IX. ii, Philology, or the principles of good taste, degenerated through the prevalence of school-logic.
1892 Athenæum 25 June 816/1 The fact that philology is not a mere matter of grammar, but is in the largest sense a master-science, whose duty is to present to us the whole of ancient life, and to give archæology its just place by the side of literature.
1922 O. JESPERSEN Lang. iii. 64 In this book I shall use the word ‘philology’ in its continental sense, which is often rendered in English by the vague word ‘scholarship’, meaning thereby the study of the specific culture of one nation.
1947 E. H. STURTEVANT Introd. Ling. Sci. i. 7 Philology is a word with a wide range of meaning. I use it here to designate the study of written documents.
1980 Yale Rev. Winter 312 Philology meant, and still ought to mean, the general study of literature.
2004 Hispanic Rev. 72 442 The bewildering intertextuality that has become the very essence of modern philology.
please note that the word nygardis (see below) is used in the bible c1384
Niggard
A. n. 1. a. A mean, stingy, or parsimonious person; a miser; a person who only grudgingly parts with, spends, or uses up anything. Also in extended use with reference to emotion, etc.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) 1 Cor. vi. 10 Neither lecchours..nether coueitouse men, or nygardis..schulen weelde the kyngdom of God.
a1393 GOWER Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) V. 4850 This Viola largesce hath take, And the nygard sche hath forsake.
c1400 (
c1378)
LANGLAND Piers Plowman (Laud) B. xv. 136 He was a nygarde that no good my
te aspare.
c1450 J. CAPGRAVE Life St. Katherine (Arun. 396) I. 883 We shul fare elles as these nygardes [
v.r. negardes] doo, ley vp here gold and [euyr] whil thei spare.
1483 CAXTON tr.
Caton E vij b, Men saye comynlye that the nygarde expendeth more than the lyberalle.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Edward IV f. ccxviiv, An extreme nigard, and a couetous extorcioner.
?1577 J. NORTHBROOKE Spiritus est Vicarius Christi: Treat. Dicing To Rdr. sig. A.iiijv, If a man will not dice, and play, then he is a nigard and a miser, and no good fellow.
1636 T. HEYWOOD Loves Mistresse (1640) III. i, Churle beauty, beautious nigard, thus I'le chide, Why didst thou from mine eyes this glory hide?
1710 W. CONGREVE Eleventh Satire of Juvenal in
Wks. III. 939 If Fortune has a Nigard been to thee, Devote thy self to Thrift, not Luxury.
a1400 tr. Lanfranc
Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm. 1396) 8 Be he no glotoun ne noon enuyous ne a negard.
a1425 (
c1385)
CHAUCER Troilus & Criseyde (1987) III. 1379 So perfit joie may no negarde [
v.r. nygard] have.
c1450 (?
c1408)
LYDGATE Reson & Sensuallyte 1498 Dame Venus Kan make folkys covetous to spend her good..And the Negarde to be large.
c1510 T. MORE tr. G. F. Pico della Mirandola
Lyfe J. Picus in
Wks. 18/1 The negard then saith to his money.., my god arte thou.
a1568 in W. T. Ritchie
Bannatyne MS f. 30, Men commondlie callis him ane negart, Sir Gy Brybour is his scheif stewart.
1593 R. FURSE
Diary in
Trans. Devonshire Assoc. Adv. Sci. (1894)
26 171 Be not an negarde nor yt to lyberall.
a1400 Prose Life Christ (Pepys) 66 A wikked nigger..
at wi
helde
e ri
ttes of a widewe.
c1415 CHAUCER Wife of Bath's Tale (Corpus Oxf.) l. 1263 [
c1405
Hengwrt Olde and angry] nyggardes [of dispence God sende hem soone verray pestilence].
?c1430 (
c1400)
WYCLIF Eng. Wks. (1880) 243 He schal be holde a nyggard.
1440 Promp. Parv. (Harl. 221) 355 Nyggarde, or muglard, supra, or nygun, or pynchar, infra,
tenax.
1529 T. MORE Dialogue Heresyes III, in
Wks. 225/2 If they kepe fewe seruauntes we call them nyggardes.
1576 A. FLEMING tr. Hippocrates in
Panoplie Epist. 291 Some are pinchpenies & notable niggards.
1606 J. CARPENTER Schelomonocham xliii. f. 168, That niggard, who for feare of loosing his wealth would hide it.
a1674 T. TRAHERNE Christian Ethicks (1675) 481 He that does brave acts abroad, but is a Niggard within doors.
1720 R. WELTON tr. T. Alvares de Andrade
Sufferings Son of God I. XI. 280 As for the stingy Niggard, He benefits none, no, not even himself.
1752 E. YOUNG Brothers V. i, 'Tis impious to be niggards in delight.
1776 T. PAINE Common Sense iv. 73 That narrowness of soul..which the niggards of all professions are so unwilling to part with.
1830 I. D'ISRAELI Comm. Life Charles I III. viii. 163 This monarch was no niggard when he once showered the largess of his royal friendship.
1878 R. BROWNING La Saisiaz 290 Praise or blame of its contriver, shown a niggard or profuse In each good or evil issue!
1886 19th Cent. Apr. 519 It would not be permitted to a niggard to let the parsonage fall into disrepair.
1903 P. GIBBON
Afr. Items 27 Life was a niggard, grudging him a part.
1961 Internat. Affairs 37 245 The exigencies of party politics at home (including back-bench diehards, strategic pundits, sectional pressure-groups, Treasury niggards).
1997 Sporting Life (Electronic ed.) 18 Sept., He won substantial damages of £17,000 from a judge who was a notorious niggard in such matters.
b. With
of.
Obs.
c1395 CHAUCER Wife of Bath's Tale 1263 Olde and angry nygardes [
c1415
Corpus Oxf. nyggardes] of dispence God sende hem soone verray pestilence.
c1400 Bk. to Mother (Bodl.) 126 Whanne oure Lord is large of his drinke, be not we scarse nygardus
erof to parte wi
o
ere.
1541 T. ELYOT Image of Gouernance xxiv. f. 50 , He was suche a nygard of tyme, that he was meruaylously greued, yf he spente any daye in solace.
1593 M. DRAYTON Idea ii. sig. B4, Thy wearied lungs be niggards of thy breath.
1633 P. FLETCHER Poet. Misc. 64 A crown of wood-nymphs..Sit round about, no niggards of their faces.
1660 F. BROOKE tr. V. Leblanc
World Surveyed 56 They..are not niggards of their lives in their Princes service.
1711 POPE Ess. Crit. 33 Be Niggards of Advice on no Pretence; For the worst Avarice is that of Sense.
1772 H. MACKENZIE Man of World I. v, He who never trusts, is a niggard of his soul.
1842 G. BORROW Bible in Spain III. xi. 202 As I had no hopes of a fresh supply, I was almost tempted to be a niggard of the few which remained.
1862 E. M. GOULBURN Thoughts Personal Relig. (1873) IV. xi. 349 So long as he thinks Him a niggard either of pardon or grace.
1871 ‘G. ELIOT’ Armgart i. 117 You will not be a niggard of your joy And chide the eagerness that came to share it.
c. Sc.,
Eng. regional (
north.), and
Irish English. A harsh, insensitive, or thoughtless person; a lout, a barbarian. Also as a more general term of abuse.
1790 J. BYNG Diary 9 June in
Torrington Diaries (1935) II. 164 A grove of tall trees..if Mr H: suffers them to be fell'd, he must be a Neger.
1792 G. GALLOWAY Poems 19 An illiterate kintra niggar, Blest wi' a smart external figure.
1818 SCOTT Heart of Mid-lothian iv. 70 He had gien her a loundering wi' his cane, the neger that he was!
1825 J. T. BROCKETT Gloss. North Country Words,
Neagre, a term of reproach, equivalent to a base wretch; though often confined to a mean, niggardly person.
1827 J. WATT
Poems 72 Ay sauntrin' like a dolt ane's lain A niegre daubit.
1851 H. MAYHEW London Labour II. 231/1 One..described to me as a ‘feather dresser to an out-and-out negur’.
1877 F. ROSS et al.
Gloss. Words Holderness,
Neeagur, a negro; also, a contemptible fellow; a stingy niggard.
1888 H. SMART Master of Rathkelly II. vii, The divil a ha'penny have
I parted with to the old nagur!
1996 C. I. MACAFEE
Conc. Ulster Dict. 235/2
Nigger, naiger,..a niggard, a miser..an unprincipled, worthless person..a lout, a coarse, insensitive person..a reckless fellow.
2. A movable piece of iron or firebrick placed in the side or bottom of a grate to save fuel; a false bottom. Also
niggard iron. Now
rare (chiefly
Eng. regional (
north.),
Sc., and
Irish English).
1688 R. HOLME Acad. Armory (1905) III. xiv. 9/1 The seuerall parts of a great are these... The niggatt Irons, Irons to set further or closer to gather.
1710 in B. Trinder & J. Cox
Yeomen & Colliers in Telford 1660-1750 (1980) 233 One Iron grate with two Nigots.
1820 C. R. MATURIN Melmoth I. i. 25 Go down and draw the niggers of the kitchen fire closer.
1851 H. MAYHEW London Labour II. 6/2 Niggards, generally called niggers (
i.e., false bottoms for grates).
1869 J. P. MORRIS
Furness Gloss. 67
Niggert, a piece of iron placed at the side of a fire grate to contract its width and save coals.
1894 R. O. HESLOP Northumberland Words,
Niggarts, side pieces of iron or firebrick used to contract the fire space in a fire grate.
1895 Leeds Mercury Weekly Suppl. 17 Aug. 3/8
Nigger, an end-iron, q.v.; Todmorden.
1985 K. HOWARTH
Sounds Gradely (North West Sound Archive),
Nigget-iron, a small iron plate used to cut off heat from under the oven in the old-time grate.
1996 C. I. MACAFEE
Conc. Ulster Dict. 235/2
Nigger, naiger,..a fire-brick, a false side or bottom to a grate.
B. adj. Now chiefly
literary.
1. a. Having a miserly nature; parsimonious, mean, sparing; =
NIGGARDLY adj. 2a.
In quot. 1600
fig.: hard, unyielding.
c1400 (?
a1387)
LANGLAND Piers Plowman (Vesp.) C. XX. 219 Nygard [
c1400
Huntington be ingrat to
y kynde, The holygost..ne helpeth
e, be thow certayn].
a1420 LYDGATE Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.4) II. 2602 Argus eyen..In nygard hertis be oft sythes blynde.
a1425 (?
a1400)
CHAUCER Romaunt Rose 1172 A full gret fool is he..That bothe riche and nygard is.
?1515 A. BARCLAY Egloges IV. sig. Cv, Though ye be negard, & nought wylt gyue of thyne.
1577 H. RHODES Bk. Nurture (new ed.) sig. Dviiiv, A man that is a niggard churle no tyme is lyberall.
1598 R. BARNFIELD Complaint of Poetrie vi, in
Encomion Lady Pecunia sig. A4, What infernall furie late hath haunted Their niggard purses?
1600 Wisdome Doctor Dodypoll III. sig. E2, Then your soft feete, Would be repining at these niggard stones.
1623 J. PENKETHMAN tr. Cato
Handful of Honesty I. xxix, Niggard or Couetous thou shalt not seeme.
1681 DRYDEN Absalom & Achitophel 12 Why am I Scanted by a Niggard Birth?
1725 POPE tr. Homer
Odyssey III. XIV. 242 What by niggard Fortune was deny'd.
1794 S. T. COLERIDGE Monody Death Chatterton, A prodigal nature and a niggard doom.
1825 J. BENTHAM Rationale Reward 35 Will they be supposed so mean as to be niggard with pence and lavish with millions?
1884 L. J. JENNINGS Croker Papers I. viii. 237 [He] paid off his personal grudges with no niggard hand.
1907 W. IRVINE tr. N. Manucci
Storia Do Mogor II. 80 They are afraid to spend money even when it is necessary; fond of receiving, niggard in giving.
1948 E. POUND Pisan Cantos (1949) lxxxi. 113 Pull down thy vanity, Rathe to destroy, niggard in charity.
1991 E. S. CONNELL
Alchymist's Jrnl. (1992) 24, I point out how treasure flows to chattermag niggard hucksters marketing pinchbeck remedies meant for a Lazaret.
b. With
of.
1601 T. POWELL Passionate Poet sig. D1, When our Lampes are niggard of their light, Th' infused Oyle makes smoake to burne more bright.
1604 SHAKESPEARE Hamlet III. i. 14 Niggard of question, but of our demaunds Most free in his reply.
a1764 C. CHURCHILL Rosciad in
Poems (1933) 44 Envy would drive the colour from his cheek; But step-dame Nature, niggard of her grace, Denied the social powers of voice and face.
1812 BYRON Childe Harold II. xlix, Here dwells the caloyer, nor rude is he, Nor niggard of his cheer.
1842 J. WILSON Recreations Christopher North III. 337 The heavens are niggard of their dews.
1893 F. W. BOURDILLON September in
Sursum Corda 36 Wayward guest..gently breakest the message, That days more niggard of light And the flight Of gathering swallows presage.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 557/2 Napoleon was prodigal of promises, but niggard of their fulfilment.
2. Of a way, space, etc.: narrow, small. Now
rare.
1609 S. DANIEL Ciuile Warres I. xlviii. 45 There was A niggard narrow way for men to passe.
1813 SCOTT Rokeby II. 64 A flinty footpath's niggard space.
1868 E. R. SILL Hermitage in
Poems xix, Here is no niggard gap of sky above.
1918 International (N.Y.) Feb. 36/1 Around the croft was a niggard space of cultivated land, yielding with bitter toil a few oats and a few potatoes.
3. Of actions, qualities, etc.: characteristic of a miser; =
NIGGARDLY adj.
