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"niggard"
Language
Act 4,
Scene 2
Lines 278-281a

An explanation of the word "niggard" in Act 4, Scene 2 of myShakespeare's Julius Caesar

Brutus

The deep of night is crept upon our talk,
And nature must obey necessity,
Which we will niggard with a little rest.
There is no more to say.

Niggard is an old Scandinavian word describing someone who is stingy with money. It’s fallen out of use in modern times, and that might be because it sounds similar to a racial slur. In these lines, Brutus means that they will be stingy to nature’s call for sleep by only taking a brief rest.