Nigerian, n. and a.
(naɪˈdʒɪərɪən)
[f. Nigeria (see below): see -an.]
A. n. A native or inhabitant of Nigeria, a republic in West Africa occupying the basin of the lower Niger. B. adj. Of or pertaining to Nigeria or its inhabitants.
| 1860 W. Cole Jrnl. 6 May in Life in Niger (1862) 170 This is the general mode in which the Nigerians make known their losses. 1905 F. L. Shaw Tropical Dependency xlv. 425 The names, alas, of more than one of the first small Nigerian group are engraved now upon tombstones on that border of the Empire which they helped to make. Ibid. li. 481 There are now in all..about 400 white men in the Northern Nigerian service. 1908 Daily Chron. 31 Jan. 3/3 When she came back from her first journey still hale and happy, she was accepted as a full-fledged Nigerian. 1923 Blackw. Mag. Apr. 514/2 His early days have gone down in Nigerian history. 1954 R. St. B. Baker Sahara Challenge vii. 73 This is the secret of the successful growing of groundnuts, which has been known to the Nigerians for many generations. Ibid., We slept just outside a Nigerian resthouse. 1973 Listener 14 June 782/1 There is a confidence and exuberance about Nigerians which lifts the spirits. 1973 Guardian 19 June 18/4 The Niger herdsmen are paid in Nigerian pounds. They buy Nigerian goods, recross the border and sell the goods. |