Etymology From Middle English blak, black, blake, from Old English blæc (“black, dark", also "ink”), from Proto-West Germanic *blak, from Proto-Germanic *blakaz (“burnt”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleg- (“to burn, shine”). See also Dutch blaken (“to burn”), Low German blak, black (“blackness, black paint, (black) ink”), Old High German blah (“black”); also compare Latin flagrāre (“to burn”), Ancient Greek φλόξ (phlóx, “flame”), Sanskrit भर्ग (bharga, “radiance”). Adjective sense 20 is a semantic loan from Cantonese 黑面 (hak1 min6, “to pull a long face, to scowl”).
Of an object Absorbing all light and reflecting none; dark and hueless.
The items around him were black in colour.
The scandal of a lie is in a manner lost and annihilated when diffused among several thousands; as a drop of the blackest tincture wears away and vanishes when mixed and confused in a considerable body of water; the blot is still in it, but is not able to discover itself.1712 October 21 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “FRIDAY, October 11, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 507; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume V, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 492:
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Speaking of round sunglasses, these lightweight polarized ones and come in two shades of tortoiseshell as well as black and bronze.2023 June 26, Lauren Caruso and Jillian Tracy, “The 22 best sunglasses for summer, according to style experts”, in CNN, archived from the original on 14 Apr 2025:
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Of a location or setting Without light.
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Capitalized, Sometimes Belonging to or descended from any of various (African, Aboriginal, etc.) ethnic groups which typically have dark pigmentation of the skin. (See usage notes below.)
Somebody tell me, what can I do / Something is holding me back / Is it because I'm black?1969, “Is It Because I'm Black”, performed by Syl Johnson:
I believed that a huge injustice had been perpetrated for hundreds of years on every black man, woman, and child in the United States.1971, Lyndon Johnson, The Vantage Point, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 39:
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I am a young, light-skinned black woman, and truer words were never written of the problem we light-skinned blacks have had to live with. The article explains in-depth what it's like.1975 May, Terry Hodges, Ebony, page 10:
The country’s first black president, and its first president to reach adulthood after the Vietnam War and Watergate, Mr. Obama seemed like a digital-age leader who could at last dislodge the stalemate between those who clung to the government of the Great Society, on the one hand, and those who disdained the very idea of government, on the other.2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 12 Nov 2020:
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South Africa, UK, US, Capitalized, Sometimes Belonging to or descended from any of various sub-Saharan African ethnic groups which typically have dark pigmentation of the skin.
5
Historical Designated for use by those ethnic groups (as described above).
I was dealt two red queens, and he got one of the black queens.
7
Bad; evil; ill-omened.
black magic
[…] what a black day would that be, when the Ordinances of Jesus Christ should as it were be excommunicated, and cast out of the Church of Christ.1655, Benjamin Needler, Expository notes, with practical observations; towards the opening of the five first chapters of the first book of Moses called Genesis., London: N. Webb and W. Grantham, page 168:
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Nor were there wanting some, who, after the departure of Jenny, insinuated that she was spirited away with a design too black to be mentioned, and who gave frequent hints that a legal inquiry ought to be made into the whole matter, and that some people should be forced to produce the girl.1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling:
She had seen so much of the blacker side of human nature that blackness no longer startled her as it should do.1861, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage:
8
Expressing menace or discontent; threatening; sullen.
He shot her a black look.
The lassie had grace given her to refuse, but with a woeful heart, and Heriotside rode off in black discontent, leaving poor Ailie to sigh her love. He came back the next day and the next, but aye he got the same answer.1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:
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We see the impression that the perils of these unknown seas made on Minoan art in a clay seal impression that comes from Knossos. A sea monster, with head and jaws like a dog's, is rising from the waves and attacking a boatman who stands defending himself in his skiff. […] This is the black side of the sense of "the magic and the mystery of the sea" that finds a lighter expression in the octopus and sea-shell designs of the vases, and the flying fish on porcelain and frescoes.1907, Ronald M. Burrows, The Discoveries In Crete, page 14:
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Of objects or markets Illegitimate, illegal, or disgraced.
Foodstuffs were rationed and, as in other countries in a similar situation, the black market was flourishing.1952, The Contemporary Review, volume 182, page 338:
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Foul; dirty, soiled.
Then trip him, that his heeles may kicke at Heauen, / And that his Soule may be as damn'd aud blacke / As Hell, whereto it goes.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], page 270, column 2:
Of coffee or tea Without any cream, milk, or creamer.
Jim drinks his coffee black, but Ellen prefers it with creamer.
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Board games, Chess, Games Of or relating to the playing pieces of a board game deemed to belong to the "black" set (in chess, the set used by the player who moves second) (often regardless of the pieces' actual colour).
The black pieces in this chess set are made of dark blue glass.
Consequently, in the initial position the white pieces and pawns are placed on the first and second ranks; the black pieces and pawns on the eighth and seventh ranks.2022, “2023 Laws of Chess”, in FIDE, page 21:
Government, PoliticsGerman Related to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany.
After the election, the parties united in a black-yellow alliance.
17
Clandestine; relating to a political, military, or espionage operation or site, the existence or details of which is withheld from the general public.
5 percent of the Defense Department funding will go to black projects.
black operations/black ops; black room; black site
18
Occult; relating to something (such as mystical or magical knowledge) which is unknown to or kept secret from the general public.
Pope Joan, who once occupied the throne of the Vatican, was reputed to be the blackest sorcerer of them all.1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 105:
But a hel-rúne was one who knew secret black knowledge – and the association of hell with the dead shows that the gloss in O.H.G. 'necromancia' is very close.2014, J.R.R. Tolkien, Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 168:
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Ireland, Derogatory Protestant, often with the implication of being militantly pro-British or anti-Catholic. (Compare blackmouth ("Presbyterian").)
the Black North
the Royal Black Institution
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There is a district, comprehending Donegal, the interior of the county of Derry, and the western side of Tyrone, which is emphatically called by the people "the Black North," an expression not meant, as I conceive, to mark its greater exposure to the westerly winds, but rather its dreary aspect.1812, Edward Wakefield, An Account of Ireland, Statistical and Political, volume 2, page 737:
Even in the "black North"—in " Protestant Ulster"—Catholicity is progressing at a rate that must strike terror into its enemies, and impart pride and hope to the professors of the faith of our sainted forefathers.1841 March 20, "Intelligence; Catholicity in Ulster" Catholic Herald (Bengal), Vol. 2 No. 1, p. 27
To the southern Nationalist the north was chiefly known as the home of the most rabid religious and political intolerance perhaps in the whole Christian world; it was designated by the comprehensive title of the 'Black North.'1886, Thomas Power O'Connor, The Parnell Movement: With a Sketch of Irish Parties from 1843, page 520:
Now April's brother, once also holding a commission in that regiment, was an Ulster Volunteer, her father a staunch, black Protestant, her family tremulously "loyal" to the country whose Parliament was turning them out of its councils.1914 May 27, "Review of The North Afire by W. Douglas Newton", The Sketch: A Journal of Art and Actuality, volume 86, page t
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Having one or more features (hair, fur, armour, clothes, bark, etc.) that is dark (or black).
the black knight; black bile
21
Biology, Natural sciences, TaxonomyEspecially Dark in comparison to another species with the same base name.
black birch; black locust; black rhino
22
Singapore, Singlish, Of someone's face Sullen and solemn; bad-tempered and unhappy.
They gave up trying to talk to me. Ever since I gave them that big scolding. But every time they see me, all face black black.2009, Jean Tay, Boom, Epigram Books, →ISBN, Act I, scene x, page 46:
Etymology From Middle English blak, black, blake, from Old English blæc (“black, dark", also "ink”), from Proto-West Germanic *blak, from Proto-Germanic *blakaz (“burnt”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleg- (“to burn, shine”). See also Dutch blaken (“to burn”), Low German blak, black (“blackness, black paint, (black) ink”), Old High German blah (“black”); also compare Latin flagrāre (“to burn”), Ancient Greek φλόξ (phlóx, “flame”), Sanskrit भर्ग (bharga, “radiance”). Adjective sense 20 is a semantic loan from Cantonese 黑面 (hak1 min6, “to pull a long face, to scowl”).
The colour/color perceived in the absence of light, but also when no light is reflected, but rather absorbed.
Black is the badge of hell, / The hue of dungeons, and the suit of night.c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:
CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. This four component color system is standard for most types of color printing, since black is an ink color in printing but is simply the absence of color in video.2009, Harry Henderson, Computer Science and Technology, Revised edition, →ISBN, page 93:
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A black dye or pigment.
3
A pen, pencil, crayon, etc., made of black pigment.
4
In plural Black cloth hung up at funerals.
Groans, and convulsions, and a discolored face, and friends weeping, and blacks, and obsequies, and the like, show death terrible.1625, Francis Bacon, “Of Death”, in Essays:
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Capitalized, Offensive, Often, Sometimes A member or descendant of any of various (African, Aboriginal, etc) ethnic groups which typically have dark pigmentation of the skin.
"How! They surely cannot pretend that the black is an Englishman?" "There are all kinds of Englishmen, black and white, when seamen grow scarce. […]"1863, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter XXIV, in Miles Wallingford:
But presently the negro seized the Hindoo by the throat; the Hindoo just pricked him in the arm with his knife, and the next moment his own head was driven against the side of the cabin with a stunning crack[…]The cabin was now full, and Sharpe was for putting both the blacks in irons.1863, Charles Reade, Hard Cash:
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Numa was about to charge—there was little time in which to compare various methods or weigh the probable results of any. And then a number of things happened, almost simultaneously—the lion sprang from his ambush toward the retreating black—Tarzan cried out in warning—and the black turned just in time to see Numa halted in mid-flight by a slender strand of grass rope, the noosed end of which had fallen cleanly about his neck.1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 123:
Prize-winning books continue a trend toward increased representation of blacks, accounting for most of the books with exclusively black characters.2004, Anthony Joseph Paul Cortese, Provocateur: Images of Women and Minorities in Advertising, page 108:
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Informal Blackness, the condition of belonging to or being descended from one of these ethnic groups.
1...Qd3 2 Ne1 Nd2! wins since 3 Nxd3 Rxf1 mate while 3 Qxc7+ Kg6 only delays the end. The best White can do is 3 Qc3+ Qxc3 4 Rxc3 Rxe1 when Black also wins the Bf1 and will be two pieces up.2023 January 13, Leonard Barden, “Chess: Carlsen takes on young guns at Wijk as world champion eyes record”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 23 Jan 2023:
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Something, or a part of a thing, which is black.
the black or sight of the eye1644, Kenelme [i.e., Kenelm] Digby, Two Treatises. In the One of which, the Nature of Bodies; in the Other, the Nature of Mans Soule; is Looked into: In Way of Discovery, of the Immortality of Reasonable Soules, Paris: […] Gilles Blaizot, →OCLC:
He pulled on the black, the tip of the filter hot and malleable between his lips, and felt a cool tingling coat the simmer in his chest and begin to eat away at it in small bites.2008, Jesmyn Ward, Where the Line Bleeds, Bloomsbury (2018), page 48:
The black is always the safest place for a firefighter.2024, Karl Brauneis, The Blackwater Fire and the Men Who Fought It:
The black is a safe zone for retreating firefighters. It is an area already burned out by a fire without the raw or dead fuels needed for a fire to feed on.2013, Jaylynn Wylie, Fireline:
Etymology From Middle English blak, black, blake, from Old English blæc (“black, dark", also "ink”), from Proto-West Germanic *blak, from Proto-Germanic *blakaz (“burnt”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleg- (“to burn, shine”). See also Dutch blaken (“to burn”), Low German blak, black (“blackness, black paint, (black) ink”), Old High German blah (“black”); also compare Latin flagrāre (“to burn”), Ancient Greek φλόξ (phlóx, “flame”), Sanskrit भर्ग (bharga, “radiance”). Adjective sense 20 is a semantic loan from Cantonese 黑面 (hak1 min6, “to pull a long face, to scowl”).
1
To make black; to blacken.
"I don't want to fight; but you are a mean, dirty blackguard, or you wouldn't have treated a girl like that," replied Tommy, standing as stiff as a stake before the bully. "Say that again, and I'll black your eye for you."1859, Oliver Optic, Poor and Proud; or, The Fortunes of Katy Redburn, a Story for Young Folks:
Ted, you can black your face, and dye your hair, and squint, and some fine day, sooner or later, somebody'll come along and blab the whole thing.1911, Edna Ferber, Buttered Side Down:
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I saw red, and instead of a cab I fetched that policeman. Of course father did black his eye.1922, John Galsworthy, A Family Man: In Three Acts:
2
To apply blacking to (something).
[…] he must catch, curry, and saddle his own horse; he must black his own brogans (for he will not be able to buy boots).1853, Harriet Beecher Stowe, The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin:
But in a moment he went to Greenidge's bedside, and said, shyly, in a low voice, "Shall I black your boots for you?"1861, George William Curtis, Trumps: A Novel:
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Loving you, I could conceive no life sweeter than hers — to be always near you; to black your boots, carry up your coals, scrub your doorstep; always to be working for you, hard and humbly and without thanks.1911, Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson:
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UK To boycott, usually as part of an industrial dispute.
The plants were blacked by the Transport and General Workers' Union and a consumer boycott was organised; both activities contributed to what the union saw as a victory.2003, Alun Howkins, The Death of Rural England, page 175:
Etymology Capitalized to follow the usual capitalization patterns for ethnic groups (compare e.g. Hispanic, Arab), and also, perhaps, as a way to explicitly distinguish it from the color sense, which is not capitalized outside proper nouns.
1
Alternative letter-case form of black (“person having dark pigmentation of the skin”).
By 2016, however, a divide that started appearing in the preceding few years came into full relief—that year, 29% of nonwhite liberals (28% of nonwhite Democrats) and 38% of Black liberals (34% of Black Democrats), disagreed that “Blacks should work their way up without special favors.”2022 May 2, Zachary Goldberg, “Explaining Shifts in White Racial Liberalism: The Role of Collective Moral Emotions and Media Effects”, in Georgia State University, archived from the original on 25 Jan 2025, page 98:
Unless the arbiter decides otherwise, ranks from White to Black shall be given the German numbers.2022, “2023 Laws of Chess”, in FIDE, archived from the original on 16 Mar 2025, page 24: