When Shakespeare uses the word “niggardly” is it racially motivated?
Shakespeare uses the term in The Comedy of Errors (3.1.30); Henry V (2.4.49); The Merry Wives (2.2.187); and Twelfth Night (2.5.5). He uses the terms “niggard” and “niggarding” in more plays and sonnets still. He uses it in two ways: “to put off” or “miserly”/”sparingly”. The word, originating from the Middle English “nigard” and the Scandinavian word “nig” which means “stingy person”, does not have any racial connotations in Shakespeare’s works.
