# Niger

> English word · Proper noun · IPA /ˈnaɪ.d͡ʒə(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #16,080

## Definitions
1. A country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria. Official name: Republic of the Niger.
2. A major river in West Africa that flows into the Gulf of Guinea in Nigeria.
3. A state of Nigeria in the North Central geopolitical zone. Capital and largest city: Minna.

## 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.

## Easily confused with
- **nine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/niger-vs-nine)
- **Nike** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/niger-vs-nike)
- **Nile** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/niger-vs-nile)
- **nigh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/niger-vs-nigh)
- **nite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/niger-vs-nite)
- **night** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/niger-vs-night)
- **nigga** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/niger-vs-nigga)
- **nines** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/niger-vs-nines)
- **nigger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/niger-vs-nigger)
- **Nigeria** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/niger-vs-nigeria)
- **nighter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/niger-vs-nighter)
- **ner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ner-vs-niger)
- **nice** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/nice-vs-niger)
- **never** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/never-vs-niger)
- **newer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/newer-vs-niger)
- **Nigel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/nigel-vs-niger)
- **Nagar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/nagar-vs-niger)

## Common misspellings (6)
`inger`, `ngier`, `niegr`, `nigerr`, `nigre`, `nniger`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/niger