An from old Norse "hnøgger", which means "miserly", "stingy". Despite its similarity to the offensive term "nigger", the two words are not related in any way. Stop jumping to conclusions and open the dictionary.
English buff- "Boy that gentleman at the picnic sure was niggardly."
Ignoramus- "You said "picnic" and "niggerly"! Racist!"
English Buff- "*Sigh*! "Picnic" is from a French word that refers to what we'd call a pot luck, and "niggardly" is from an old Norse word that means "stingy". They have nothing to do with race!"
A poor tip; the act of giving a niggardly tip is to give a minimal, poor, low tip. Not related to the word "nigger" or black people in any way shape or form.
Server: Ugh, those black people just left me a 5% tip...