| 释义 |
▪ I. † ˈNiger1 Obs.
[a. L. niger.]
= neger, Negro.
1574Hellowes Gueuara's Fam. Ep. (1584) 389 The Massgets bordering upon the Indians, and the Nigers of Aethiop, bearing witnes. 1584R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. vii. xv. (1886) 122 A skin like a Niger. 1676S. Sewall Diary 1 July, Jethro, his Niger, was then taken. 1698–9Par. Reg. Norton (near Evesham) 6 Jan., John Langley a Niger of Jameca..was baptized. 1721S. Sewall Diary 20 Oct., Met a Niger Funeral. 1760G. Wallace Princ. Law Scot. in Ann. Reg. (1760) ii. 265/1 Set the Nigers free, and, in a few generations, this vast and fertile continent would be crouded with inhabitants.
▪ II. Niger2|ˈnaɪdʒə(r)|
Also written niger.
1. The name of a West African river, used absol. or attrib. to designate a type of morocco produced in regions near the river and used for bookbinding.
1898C. Eyre in Bookbinding by Women 4 From Chiswick there are a number of examples of the very beautiful Niger-morocco bindings. 1901D. Cockerell Bookbinding xix. 278 The leather that I have found most useful is the Niger goatskin, brought from Africa by the Royal Niger Company. Ibid. 279 It is to be hoped that before long some of the manufacturers interested will produce skins as good in quality and colour as the best Niger morocco. 1930Times Lit. Suppl. 18 Dec. 1081/3 (Advt.), Bound in whole natural niger goat-skin. 1952J. Carter ABC for Book Collectors 124 True niger, which comes from West Africa, is a soft skin with an unemphatic, variable grain. It is locally tanned and dyed... The slight variations of grain and colour which give niger its character are seldom achieved in the imitations of it. 1963B. C. Middleton Hist. Eng. Craft Bookbinding Technique xi. 122 Niger goatskin..was popularized by Douglas Cockerell more than sixty years ago.
2. niger seed, the seeds of Guizotia abyssinica, of the family Compositæ, native to West Africa and cultivated elsewhere for the oil obtained from its seeds; also, the plant itself (cf. ramtil); niger (seed) oil, the oil produced from niger seeds.
1884Encycl. Brit. XVII. 746/1 Niger oil is the produce of the seeds (properly achenes) of Guizotia oleifera, a plant native of the east coast of Africa, but cultivated throughout India and to some extent in Germany. The fruits, which are small, tooth-like in form, and shining black in colour, contain from 40 to 45 per cent. of oil... In Western countries niger oil is principally employed in soap-making and as a lubricant. 1889G. S. Boulger Uses of Plants 138 Guizotia abyssinica, Cass., Niger or Ramtil seeds, came into the English market about 1851. It is a native of Tropical Africa, but is cultivated in India and Germany. It is used in Europe for soap and lubricating oil. 1917Chambers's Jrnl. May 293/2 Niger-seed oil is used as a substitute for linseed-oil when the latter is scarce. 1944Living off Land ii. 40 Niger-seed..looks like a sunflower. 1974F. N. Howes Dict. Useful & Everyday Plants 175 Niger seed. Guizotia abyssinica, an oil seed and much favoured for cage birds. 1974G. Usher Dict. Plants used by Man 288/2 The plant [sc. Guizotia abyssinica] is cultivated for the seeds which yield an oil (Niger Seed Oil, Ramtilla Oil, Werinnua Oil). The plant is cultivated mainly in India, but also in E. Africa, W. Indies and Germany... It is used for soap-making and cooking fats. |