néger

From German Neger (“black”), from French nègre, ultimately from Latin niger.

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: né‧ger
• Rhymes: -ɛr

néger (plural négerek)

1. (now potentially offensive) black (a person of African descent)
   • 2004, Ádám Nádasdy, Ki fia-borja? (“Who is he/she/it from?”, literally “Whose son or calf?”), Magyar Narancs

     Az amerikai négerek például (egy húszmilliós közösség!) anyanyelvükként egy germán nyelvet beszélnek, az angolt: ebbôl nem következik, hogy rokonai volnának az ugyancsak germán nyelvet beszélô dánoknak.

     American Black people (a community of twenty million!), for instance, speak a Germanic language, English, as their mother tongue: it does not follow from this that they should be related to Danes, who also speak a Germanic language.

2. (derogatory) ghostwriter

   Synonym: szellemíró

Originally, the word had a neutral tone in Hungarian. However, its usage was affected by its meaning in other countries, especially in the United States. While it is still in actively use particularly by older speakers, the Hungarian media prefers to use fekete (“black”), afroamerikai (“African American”) or afrikai (“African”) instead. The Hungarian phrase színes bőrű (“colored”) is also considered offensive by many. In everyday's life, it still has a neutral connotation and is used interchangeably with fekete.

• néger in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN