# くろ
## Japanese
### Etymology 1

* Alternative spelling
* 黒
⟨kuro$_1$⟩ → /kuro/
From Old Japanese (see 黒い (kuroi) for more); in turn, from Proto-Japonic *kuro.
Via root morpheme *kur, cognates include:
* 涅 (kuri, “black mud from the bed of a body of water”)
* 暗 (kura, “darkness; deception”), 蔵, 倉, 庫 (kura, “[dark] storehouse”), and 暗い (kurai, “dark”)
* classical verb 暮る (kuru), modern 暮れる (kureru, “to become dark; to near the end [of a day, of a year, of a life”), and 暗れる, 眩れる (kureru, “to become depressed, to become dreary of mood”)
Possibly also cognate with Ainu kur (“shadow”) and Korean 구름 (gureum, “cloud”); compare also Japanese 雲 (kumo, “cloud”), Korean 검— (geom-, “black”), and Ainu kunne (“black; dark”).

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) くろ [kúꜜrò] (Atamadaka – [1])
* IPA: [kɯ̟ɾo̞]

#### Noun

くろ • (kuro)
* black (color)
    Antonym: 白 (shiro)
* (go) a black stone; the person who plays black stones
    Synonym: 先手 (sente)
* a 女房詞 (nyōbō kotoba, “woman's word”) for 鍋 (nabe, “pot, pan”) or 釜 (kama, “pot, kettle”)
* (accounting) short for 黒字 (kuroji): black as an accounting term, indicating a profit
* (euphemistic) short for 黒幕 (kuromaku): a black curtain (someone influencing or controlling matters from behind the scenes)
* guilt; the guilty one, the guilty party
    Synonym: 有罪 (yūzai, “guilt”)
    Antonym: 白 (shiro, “innocence”)
* (slang) anarchy as a belief system or philosophy
    Synonym: 無政府主義 (museifu shugi)
* (slang) an anarchist
    Synonym: 無政府主義者 (museifu shugi-sha)

##### Derived terms

* 黒(くろ)黒(ぐろ), 黒(くろ)々(ぐろ) (kuroguro)
* 黒(くろ)い (kuroi, “black”, adjective)
* 黒(くろ)み (kuromi, “blackness, black tinge”)
* 黒(くろ)め (kurome)
* 黒(くろ)和(あ)え, 黒(くろ)韲(あ)え (kuro-ae)
* 玄人(くろうと) (kurōto)
* 黒(クロ)柏(カシワ) (kuro kashiwa), 黒(クロ)柏(カシワ)鶏(ケイ) (kuro kashiwa-kei)
* 黒(くろ)金(がね), 鉄(くろがね) (kurogane, “iron”)
* 黒(くろ)髪(かみ) (kurokami)
* 黒(くろ)川(かわ), 黒(くろ)河(かわ) (kurokawa)
* 黒(くろ)子(ご), 黒(くろ)衣(ご) (kurogo)
* 黒(くろ)字(じ) (kuroji)
* 黒(くろ)田(た) (kurota)
* 黒(くろ)田(だ) (Kuroda)
* 黒(くろ)垂(たれ) (kurotare)
* 黒(クロ)鶫(ツグミ) (kurotsugumi)
* 黒(クロ)貂(テン) (kuroten)
* 黒(くろ)塗(ぬり), 黒(くろ)塗(ぬ)り (kuro-nuri)
* 黒(くろ)猫(ねこ) (kuroneko, “black cat”)
* 黒(クロ)檜(ビ) (kurobi), 黒(クロ)檜(ベ) (kurobe)
* 黒(くろ)っぽい (kuroppoi, “blackish, dark”)
* 黒(くろ)豚(ぶた) (kurobuta, “Berkshire pig”)
* 黒(くろ)幕(まく) (kuromaku)
* 黒(くろ)丸(まる), 黒(くろ)円(まる) (kuromaru)
* 黒(クロ)布(メ), 黒海布(クロメ), 黒菜(クロメ) (kurome)
* 黒(くろ)目(め), 黒(くろ)眼(め) (kurome)
* 黒(くろ)焼(やき), 黒(くろ)焼(や)き (kuroyaki)
* 黒(くろ)枠(わく), 黒(くろ)框(わく) (kurowaku)
* 黒(くろ)ん坊(ぼう) (kuronbō): a deeply tanned person; (derogatory) a black person; a stagehand wearing black or dark clothing; a monk wearing black clothing; rotten black seeds, particularly grain that has rotted on the stalk
* 白(しら)黒(くら) (shirakura, “this and that, so-and-so, such-and-such: unspecified items brought up for criticism”)
* 白(しろ)黒(くろ) (shirokuro, “black and white; monochrome; panic or startled state; confusion; sex show”)
* 中(なか)黒(ぐろ) (nakaguro)
* 黒子(ははくそ) (hahakuso), 黒子(ほくろ) (hokuro, “mole”)
* 髭(ひげ)黒(くろ) (higekuro)

##### Related terms

* 盲(めくら) (mekura, “blindness”)
* 涅(くり) (kuri, “black mud from the bed of a body of water”)
* 呉(くれ) (kure): (obsolete) China (from sense of "where the sun sets")
* 暗(くら) (kura, “darkness; deception, fraud”)
* 暗(くら)がり (kuragari): darkness
* 蔵(くら), 倉(くら), 庫(くら) (kura, “(dark) storehouse”)
* 暗(くら)い (kurai, “dark”)
* 暮(く)れる (kureru, “to become dark; to near the end (of a day, of a year, of a life)”)
* 暗(く)れる, 眩(く)れる (kureru, “to become depressed, to become dreary of mood”)
* 晦(くら)ます (kuramasu, “to conceal oneself, to abscond; to deceive, to fool”)
* 冥(くら)き途(みち) (kurakimichi, “underworld, realm of the dead”)
* 暮(く)れ六(む)つ (kuremutsu): Edo-period term for a time of day, roughly 6 pm
* 暮(く)れ方(がた) (kuregata, “evening, sunset, nightfall”)
* 暮(く)れ泥(なず)む (kurenazumu, “to grow dark slowly”)

#### See also

Colors in Japanese · 色(いろ) (iro) (layout · text) :
| 白(しろ) (shiro) | 灰(はい)色(いろ) (haiiro), 鼠(ねずみ)色(いろ) (nezumiiro) (dated) | 黒(くろ) (kuro) |
| 赤(あか) (aka); 深(しん)紅(く) (shinku), クリムゾン (kurimuzon), 紅(べに)色(いろ) (beniiro), 紅(くれない)色(いろ) (kurenaiiro), 茜(あかね)色(いろ) (akaneiro) | 橙(だいだい)色(いろ) (daidaiiro), オレンジ (orenji); 茶(ちゃ)色(いろ) (chairo), 褐(かっ)色(しょく) (kasshoku) | 黄(き)色(いろ) (kiiro); クリーム色(いろ) (kurīmuiro) |
| 黄(き)緑(みどり) (kimidori) | 緑(みどり) (midori), 青(あお) (ao) (dated) | 若(わか)緑(みどり) (wakamidori) |
| 水(みず)色(いろ) (mizuiro), シアン (shian); 鴨(かも)の(の)羽(はね)色(いろ) (kamo no hane iro) | 空(そら)色(いろ) (sorairo), 縹(はなだ) (hanada); 青(あお) (ao) | 紺(こん)藍(あい) (kon'ai); 紺(こん) (kon) |
| 菫(すみれ)色(いろ) (sumireiro); 藍(あい)色(いろ) (aiiro), インジゴ (injigo) | 赤(あか)紫(むらさき) (akamurasaki), マゼンタ (mazenta); 紫(むらさき) (murasaki) | 桃(もも)色(いろ) (momoiro), ピンク (pinku) |

### Etymology 2

* Alternative spellings
* 畔 畦 壠 (uncommon)
First attested in a text from 810, but only where 畦 is glossed as クロ. The first actual phonetic attestation is in the Wamyō Ruijushō (934), as 久路.

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) くろ [kùróꜜ] (Odaka – [2])
* (Tokyo) くろ [kúꜜrò] (Atamadaka – [1])
* IPA: [kɯ̟ɾo̞]
* (Kyoto) く​ろ [kúꜜrò] (Kōki)
* (Kyoto) くろ [kùró] (Teiki – [0])
* (Kagoshima) くろ​ [kùróꜜ] (type B)
* Historical evolution of the Kyoto pitch accent
   * (the Heian period) LH
    ※ H for high and flat syllables (◌́), L for low and flat syllables (◌̀), F for high-to-low syllables (◌̂), R for low-to-high syllables (◌̌). ※ References:

#### Noun

くろ • (kuro)
* [from 810 or 934] (dated or dialect) a ridge between rice paddies
* [from 1241] a slightly raised place

### Etymology 3

Attested in the Butsurui Shōko (1775).
Unknown. Possibly a dialectal form of 蟋蟀(コオロギ) (kōrogi, “cricket”), but no sources support this.

#### Noun

くろ • (kuro)
* [from 1775] (hapax, obsolete) a cricket

### Etymology 4

Unknown. Possibly contractions of different words.

#### Noun

くろ • (kuro)
* [from 1931] (slang, criminal) a glove
* [from 1915] (slang, criminal) a copper coin
* [from 1935] (slang, criminal) a mole (skin)

### References

* ↑ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
* ↑ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* 1 2 3 “くろ 【畔・畦・壠】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
* 1 2 3 Hirayama, Teruo, editor (1960), 全国アクセント辞典 (Zenkoku Akusento Jiten, “Nationwide Accent Dictionary”) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Tōkyōdō, →ISBN