niggard
[ˈnɪɡɚd]
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.37 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
noun
A false bottom in a grate, used for saving fuel.
Example Sentences
- "It was, however, the pleasure of his niggard and unhappy fortune, that in seeking a place proper for his accommodation, he and Dapple tumbled into a deep and very dark pit, among a number of old buildings."
- "[H]is heart swelled within him, as he sat at the head of his own table, on the occasion of the house-warming, dispensing with no niggard hand the gratuitous viands and unlimited beer, which were at once to symbolise and inaugurate the hospitality of his mansion."
- "Then beautious nigard why dooſt thou abuſe / The bountious largeſſe giuen thee to giue?"
- "All his pleasures were social; and while health and fortune smiled upon him, he was no niggard either of his time or talents to those who needed them."
- "‘No niggard are you, Éomer,’ said Aragorn, ‘to give thus to Gondor the fairest thing in your realm!’"
- "1833, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Godolphin It was evening: he ordered a fire and lights; and, leaning his face on his hand as he contemplated the fitful and dusky upbreakings of the flame through the bars of the niggard and contracted grate […]"
Etymology
From Middle English nigard, nygard (“miser”), from nig (“niggardly person”), possibly of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Icelandic hnøggr (“miserly, stingy”), Old Norse *hniggw, with descendants Swedish njugg (“stingy”), dialectal Swedish niggla (“be stingy”), dialectal Norwegian nigla. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hnauwjaz, source of Old English hneaw (“stingy”), replaced by Middle English nig. Possibly cognate to niggle (“miser”). Compare German Knicker (“niggard”), knickerig (“niggardly”). Unrelated to the word nigger, but see the usage notes.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: nigard, *hnauwjaz
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: [ˈnɪɡɚd]
- British English: [ˈnɪɡəd]
Usage
Inflected Forms
more niggard (comparative)
most niggard (superlative)
niggards (plural)
niggards (present, singular)
niggarding (participle, present)
niggarded (participle, past)
niggarded (past)