Nefer
/ˈnɛfər/noun
An ancient Egyptian word meaning good, beautiful, perfect, or pleasant, also used in Egyptian names and titles.
Did you know?The nefer hieroglyph appears in names such as Nefertiti and Nefertari, embedding the ideal of beauty directly into royal identities.
Etymological Timeline
3rd Millennium BCE
Ancient Egyptian
nfr
“Good, beautiful, perfect, pleasant; represented by a hieroglyph resembling a heart and windpipe.”
Old Kingdom
Egyptian
nfr
“A common descriptive term for beauty, excellence, and goodness in religious, royal, and funerary texts.”
14th Century BCE
Egyptian
Nfr.t-jty
“Nefertiti, conventionally interpreted as “the beautiful one has come.””
13th Century BCE
Egyptian
Nfr.t-jry
“Nefertari, a royal name generally interpreted as “beautiful companion” or “the beautiful one has appeared.””
19th–20th Century
Egyptology
nefer
“Standard scholarly transliteration of the Egyptian hieroglyphic word nfr.”
Modern English
English
nefer
“A specialized Egyptological loanword referring to ancient Egyptian beauty, goodness, or perfection.”
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