nègre

See also: negre, négre, Negre, and Nègre

French

Inherited from Middle French negre, from Spanish negro or Portuguese negro, itself from Latin niger. Doublet of noir (“black”).

nègre m (plural nègres, feminine négresse)

(vulgar, offensive or dated) negro
Synonyms: négro, noir
(now sometimes offensive) ghostwriter
un nègre littéraire
(Louisiana, not usually offensive, see quotations) Black man or person
- 2010, Albert Valdman, et al., Dictionary of Louisiana French as Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities, page 651:
  Et "nègre" veut pas dire "nigger," c’est pas un mot vilain. C’est juste dire que c’est un homme de couleur. Un noir. Tu vas dire "un nègre," ou "une négresse," et c’est pas une insulte.
  And "nègre" doesn’t mean “nigger,” it’s not an ugly word. It’s just to say that someone is a man of color. A black man. You’ll say a "nègre," or a "négresse," and it’s not an insult.
- 2010, Valdman, et al., Dictionary of Louisiana French, page 175:
  Les nègres ont les cheveux crottés.
  Black people have kinky hair.
Coordinate term: (gender) négresse f
(Louisiana, informal) friend, buddy, pal, man, dude
(Louisiana, informal, endearing) honey, baby, precious
Coordinate term: négresse f
(Louisiana, sometimes pejorative) the Louisiana Creole language, Kouri-Vini
Synonyms: courimavini m, courivini m, créole m, français cassé m, gombo m, patois m

The term nègre was not considered offensive a few decades ago, referring merely to the colour of the skin.
The preferred form for ghostwriter is prête-plume, as the term nègre has pejorative connotations. The expression is still largely used, sometimes in the softened form nègre littéraire, perhaps because this meaning is strongly metaphorical and only distantly related.

nègre (plural nègres)

This term is not considered pejorative as an adjective, but due to the associations of the noun, is often replaced with africain.

alouette nègre
Alouette nègre (“black lark”), Melanocorypha yeltoniensis (Alouette can be spelled with a “capital A” to emphasize the French name of the species) (cf. German: Mohrenlerche and Mohr)

nègre