nigger

Origin:

late 17th century (as an adjective): from earlier neger, from French nègre, from Spanish negro 'black' (see Negro)

The word nigger was first used as an adjective denoting a black person in the 17th century, and has long had strong offensive connotations. Today it remains one of the most racially offensive words in the language. However, it has acquired a new strand of use in recent years: it is sometimes used by black people as a mildly disparaging way of referring to other black people, in much the same way that queer has been adopted by some gay people as a term of self-reference, acceptable only when used by those within the community.