# black
## English
### Alternative forms

* blacke (obsolete)
* Black, (Internet slang) blk (race-related)
* blak (Australian Indigenous)

### 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”) (compare Dutch blaken (“to burn”), Low German blak, black (“blackness, black paint, (black) ink”), Old High German blah (“black”)), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleg- (“to burn, shine”) (compare Latin flagrāre (“to burn”), Ancient Greek φλόξ (phlóx, “flame”), Sanskrit भर्ग (bharga, “radiance”)).
Sense 20 is a semantic loan from Cantonese 黑面 (hak1 min6, “to pull a long face, to scowl”).

### Pronunciation

* enPR: blăk, IPA: /blæk/
* Audio (UK):(file)
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -æk
* Hyphenation: black

### Adjective

black (comparative blacker or more black, superlative blackest or most black)
* (of an object) Absorbing all light and reflecting none; dark and hueless.
    Synonyms: dark, swart; see also Thesaurus:black
    Antonyms: white, light
* (of a location or setting) Without light.
    Synonyms: dark, gloomy; see also Thesaurus:dark
    Synonyms: bright, illuminated, lit
* (sometimes capitalized) 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.)
** 1969, “Is It Because I'm Black”, performed by Syl Johnson:Somebody tell me, what can I do / Something is holding me back / Is it because I'm black?
** 1971, Lyndon Johnson, The Vantage Point‎, Holt, Reinhart & Winston, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 39:I believed that a huge injustice had been perpetrated for hundreds of years on every black man, woman, and child in the United States.
** 1975 May, Terry Hodges, Ebony, page 10: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.
** 2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times‎: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.
** (US, UK, South Africa) Belonging to or descended from any of various sub-Saharan African ethnic groups which typically have dark pigmentation of the skin.
* (chiefly historical) Designated for use by those ethnic groups (as described above).
    black drinking fountain; black hospital
* (card games, of a card) Of the spades or clubs suits.
    Coordinate term: red (“of the hearts or diamonds suits”)
    I was dealt two red queens, and he got one of the black queens.
* Bad; evil; ill-omened.
    black magic
** 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:[…] 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.
** 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling: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.
** 1861, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage:She had seen so much of the blacker side of human nature that blackness no longer startled her as it should do.
* Expressing menace or discontent; threatening; sullen.
    He shot her a black look.
** 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide: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.
** 1907, Ronald M. Burrows, The Discoveries In Crete, page 14: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.
* (of objects or markets) Illegitimate, illegal, or disgraced.
** 1952, The Contemporary Review, volume 182, page 338:Foodstuffs were rationed and, as in other countries in a similar situation, the black market was flourishing.
* Foul; dirty, soiled.
** 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: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.
* (Ireland, informal) Overcrowded.
* (of coffee or tea) Without any cream, milk, or creamer.
    Jim drinks his coffee black, but Ellen prefers it with creamer.
* (board games, chess) 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.
* (typography) Said of a symbol or character that is solid, filled with color.
    Coordinate term: white
    Compare two Unicode symbols: ☞ (“WHITE RIGHT POINTING INDEX”); ☛ (“BLACK RIGHT POINTING INDEX”).
* (politics) Of or pertaining to anarchism; anarchist.
* (German politics) Related to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany.
    After the election, the parties united in a black-yellow alliance.
* 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
* Occult; relating to something (such as mystical or magical knowledge) which is unknown to or kept secret from the general public.
** 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 105:Pope Joan, who once occupied the throne of the Vatican, was reputed to be the blackest sorcerer of them all.
** 2014, J.R.R. Tolkien, Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 168: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.
* (Ireland, now derogatory) Protestant, often with the implication of being militantly pro-British or anti-Catholic. (Compare blackmouth ("Presbyterian").)
    the Black North ― Ulster
    the Royal Black Institution
** 1812, Edward Wakefield, An Account of Ireland, Statistical and Political‎, volume 2, page 737: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.
** 1841 March 20, "Intelligence; Catholicity in Ulster" Catholic Herald (Bengal), Vol. 2 No. 1, p. 27:
    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.
** 1886, Thomas Power O'Connor, The Parnell Movement: With a Sketch of Irish Parties from 1843, page 520: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.'
** 1914 May 27, "Review of The North Afire by W. Douglas Newton", The Sketch: A Journal of Art and Actuality, volume 86, page t:
    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.
** 1985 April, J. A. Weaver, “John Henry Biggart 1905-1979 - A portrait in respect and affection”, in Ulster Medical Journal, volume 54, number 1, page 1:He [Sir John Henry Biggart] was personally amused at having once been called "a black bastard".
** 2007 September 6, Fintan O'Toole, “Diary”, in London Review of Books, volume 29, number 17, page 35:He had been playing Gaelic football for Lisnaskea Emmets, his local team in County Fermanagh, against a team from nearby Brookeborough, when someone from the opposing team called him a ‘black cunt’. ‘Black’, in this case, was a reference not to the colour of his skin but to his religion. It is short for ‘Black Protestant’, a long-standing term of sectarian abuse.
* Having one or more features (hair, fur, armour, clothes, bark, etc.) that is dark (or black).
    the black knight; black bile
** (taxonomy, especially) Dark in comparison to another species with the same base name.
    black birch; black locust; black rhino
* (Singapore, Singlish, of someone's face) Sullen and solemn; bad-tempered and unhappy.
** 2009, Jean Tay, Boom, Epigram Books, →ISBN, Act I, scene x, page 46: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.

#### Usage notes

* In the United States, United Kingdom, and South Africa, black typically refers to people of African descent, including indirect African descent via the Caribbean, and including those with light skin. In Australia, Aboriginal Australians are often referred to as or identify as black. In New Zealand, Maori people are sometimes referred to as or identify as black.
* Some style guides recommend capitalizing Black in reference to the racial group, while others advise using lowercase (black); lowercase is more common.

#### Derived terms

(biology: having features darker than closely related organisms):
* American black bear
* American black duck
* American black vulture
* anti-black
* Arizona black walnut
* Asian black bear
* Asian black rat
* benthic black
* bible-black
* black abalone
* black alder (Alnus glutinosa)
* black alder winterberry
* black and gold garden spider
* black and white Helen
* black and white warbler
* black-and-yellow grosbeak
* Black Angus
* black ant
* black antshrike
* black-arched moth
* black ash
* black-assed
* black as your hat
* black-backed antshrike
* black-backed grosbeak
* black-backed gull
* black-backed jackal
* black-backed water tyrant
* black bamboo
* black bass
* black bean
* black bean aphid
* black bearded saki
* black bear (Ursus spp.)
* black beetle
* black-bellied plover
* black-bellied sandgrouse
* black-bellied wren
* black-bibbed tit
* black-billed capercaillie
* black-billed flycatcher
* black-billed magpie
* black birch tree
* black bread mold (Rhizopus stolonifer)
* black bream
* black-browed albatross
* black-browed barbet
* black-browed mollymawk
* black bryony
* blackbuck
* black butcherbird
* blackbutt (Eucalyptus spp.)
* black caiman
* black canker
* black-capped babbler
* black-capped chickadee
* black-capped petrel
* black-capped tinamou
* black caraway
* black cardamom
* black carob
* black carp
* black carpet beetle
* black caviar
* black chanterelle
* black cherry (Prunus serotina)
* black-chinned siskin
* black chokeberry
* black-clad
* black cock
* blackcock
* black cockatoo
* black cod
* black cohosh (Actaea racemosa)
* black coral
* black-crested antshrike
* black-crested tit
* black-crested titmouse
* black crowned crane
* black-crowned night heron
* black cuckooshrike, black cuckoo-shrike
* black cumin
* black curassow
* blackcurrant, black currant, black-currant (Ribes nigrum)
* black currawong
* black dammar
* black dolphin
* black dose
* black drongo
* black drum
* black duiker
* black durgon
* black earwig
* black elder (Sambucus nigra)
* black ewe
* blackeye
* black-eyed bean black-eyed pea (Vigna unguiculata)
* black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
* black-faced bunting
* black-faced cormorant
* black-faced ibis
* black finger crab
* blackfly
* black-footed cat
* black-footed rock wallaby
* black forest
* black fox
* black fragility
* black francolin
* black fungus
* black-ganger
* black garden ant
* black garlic
* black ghost knifefish
* black glaze
* black goby (Gobius niger)
* black goose
* black gram
* blackgrass
* black grouse
* black guillemot
* black gum (Nyssa sylvatica)
* black hairstreak
* black-handed gibbon
* black haw
* black haw viburnum
* black-headed bunting
* black-headed duck
* black-headed greenfinch
* black-headed gull
* black-headed parrot
* black-headed pasture cockchafer
* black hellebore
* black henbane
* Black Hills
* black-hooded antshrike
* black horehound
* black horse
* black house spider
* black howler
* black-humored
* black ibis
* black imported fire ant
* black kale
* black kite
* black-legged kittiwake
* black lemur
* black limpet
* black locust
* black mage
* black mamba
* black mangrove
* black maple
* black marsh turtle
* black matipo
* Black Mesa
* Black Mesa Wash
* black moss
* black moth
* black mudalia
* black mudfish
* black mulberry
* black mustard (Brassica nigra)
* black-necked crane
* black-necked grebe
* black-necked screamer
* black-necked swan
* black nightshade (Solanum nigrum etc.)
* black oak
* black oat
* black oat grass
* black oriole
* black palmer
* black panther
* black partridge
* black pepper (Piper nigrum)
* black pepper snake
* black piedra
* black pine (Pinus nigra)
* black plum
* blackpoll (Dendroica striata)
* black poplar
* black prince
* Black queen cell virus
* black racer (Coluber constrictor)
* black radish
* black raspberry (Rubus spp.)
* black rat (Rattus rattus)
* black redstart
* black rhinoceros
* black rice
* black rust
* black sage
* black salmon
* black salsify
* black salt
* black sapote
* black scabbardfish
* black scoter
* black sea cucumber
* black seaperch
* black skimmer (Rynchops niger)
* black slug
* blacksmelt
* black snake
* black snakeroot
* black speargrass
* black spruce
* black square
* blackstart
* black stork (Ciconia nigra)
* black-striped wallaby
* black swallower
* black swallow-wort, black swallowwort
* black swan
* black-tailed flycatcher
* black-tailed godwit
* black-tailed hawfinch
* black-tailed jackrabbit
* black-tailed nativehen
* black-tailed trainbearer
* black tax
* black teal
* black tern
* blackthorn (Prunus spinosa)
* blackthroat
* black-throat
* black-throated accentor
* black-throated antshrike
* black-throated diver
* black-throated loon
* black-throated thrush
* black tinamou
* black toad
* black tooth
* black truffle
* black trumpet
* black turnstone
* black turtle bean
* black-veined white
* black velveteen
* black-vented oriole
* black walnut (Juglans nigra)
* black whale
* black willow
* black-winged kite
* black-winged pratincole
* black-winged stilt
* blackwit
* blackworm
* blue-bellied black snake
* common black hawk
* Cuban black hawk
* Eurasian black vulture
* Florida black wolf
* great black-backed gull
* great black hawk
* greater black-backed gull
* Himalayan black-lored tit
* Indian black-lored tit
* Java black rot
* Large Black
* lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus)
* little black ant
* little black cormorant
* little black serotine
* Little Black Spot Mesa
* Little Black Spot Mountain
* Louisiana black bear
* mangrove black hawk
* red-bellied black snake
* red-black tree, southern black tit
* red-tailed black shark
* western black-eared wheatear
* white-backed black tit
* white-shouldered black tit
* white-winged black tit
* yellow-tailed black cockatoo
(other senses (some unsorted, may belong above)):
* All Blacks
* antiblack
* Argentine black and white tegu
* beyond the black stump
* blaccent
* black ace
* Blackacre
* blackademic
* black advance
* black Africa
* black amber
* blackamoor
* black and blue
* black and brown
* black and burst
* Black and Tan
* black-and-tan
* black-and-white, black and white
* black and white tegu
* black and white village
* Blackanese
* black antimony
* black aristocracy
* Black Army
* black art
* black as a dog's guts
* black as coal
* black as Newgate's knocker
* black as night
* blackassed
* black as tar
* black as the ace of spades
* black as thunder
* black aurora
* black babies
* blackback
* black-bag
* black bag
* black bag job
* black bag operation
* blackball
* blackband
* black band disease
* Blackbeard
* black beauty
* black bee
* black beer
* black belt
* black bile
* black bitch
* black bloc
* blackboard
* blackbody
* black body
* black bomber
* Black Book
* Black Bottom
* black-bottom
* black bottom
* black bottom pie
* black-bottom pie
* black box
* black-box function
* black box insurance
* black-box testing
* black box warning
* blackboy
* black boy
* black brane
* black bread
* black-breasted leaf turtle
* black British
* black broth
* black budget
* black bun
* black butter
* black cab
* black cake
* black cancer
* blackcap
* black cap
* black car
* black carbon
* black card
* Black Cat
* black cat
* Black Cathay
* Black Cathayan
* black cattle
* black chalk
* black chamber
* black child
* blackchin
* black Christmas
* black clam
* black clergy
* black clock
* black coal
* blackcoat
* black-coated
* black coffee
* black-collar
* black comedy
* black copper
* black cotton soil
* Black Country
* black cow
* black crake
* black crappie
* Black Crater Lake
* Black Creek
* blackdamp
* blackdar
* black day
* Black Death
* black diamond
* Black Dog
* black dog, black dog syndrome
* black draught
* black drink
* black drop
* black drop effect
* Black Duck
* Black Dutch
* black dwarf
* black earth
* Black East Indian
* black economy
* Black Elk
* black eye
* black-eyed
* blackface
* Blackface
* blackfaced
* black fax
* blackfeller
* black fellow
* blackfellow, blackfella
* black fever
* black figure
* blackfin
* blackfish
* black flag
* black flight
* black flux
* blackfly
* blackfold
* blackfolk
* black-footed ferret
* Blackford
* Black Forest
* black forest cake
* Black Forest cake
* Black Forest gateau
* black friar
* Black Friday
* black frost
* blackfulla
* blackgame
* black game
* black gang
* black gangster
* blackgin
* black gin
* black gold
* blackguard
* black guts
* black-haired
* black hairy tongue syndrome
* Black Hand
* black hat
* blackhead
* black-headed
* black-headed saltator
* blackheart
* black-hearted
* Blackheath
* black helicopter
* black henna
* black hickory
* black hog
* black hole
* black hole star
* blackhood
* black-house
* black humor, black humour
* black hydrogen
* black ice
* blackify
* black in
* black information
* black in the face
* black Irish
* black iron
* blackish
* Black Isle
* blackism
* blackity-black
* black ivory
* black jack
* blackjack
* black jail
* black jaundice
* Black Khitai
* Black Khitan
* black knight
* Black Lady
* black lady
* black land
* blackland
* black landing
* blacklash
* black latten
* Black Law
* black lead
* blacklead
* blackleg
* black legend
* Black Legend
* black-legged tick
* blacklet
* black letter
* black-letter
* black letter day
* black-letter day
* blacklettered
* black letter law
* black liberation
* black licorice
* black light, blacklight
* blackline
* blacklip
* black-lipped pika
* black liquor
* blacklist
* black lives matter
* black look
* black lung
* blackly
* black magic
* blackmail
* black man
* black manganese
* Black Maria
* black mark
* black market
* black marketeer
* black marketeering
* Black Mass
* black match
* black mead
* black measles
* black metal
* black MIDI
* black mirror
* Black Mirror
* black mist
* Black Monday
* black money
* Black Monk
* black moon
* Black Mountains
* blackmouth
* black-mouthed
* black mud
* black-naped oriole
* blackneck
* Black New World Order
* black nobility
* black noise
* black note
* black notice
* black olive
* black-on-black
* black opal
* black open access
* black operation, black op
* blackophilia
* Blackophobe
* Blackophobia
* Blackophobic
* blackophobic
* black-or-white
* black-outs
* black oven
* black over Bill's mother's
* black pacu
* Black Panther
* black people's time
* Black Peter
* black phosphorus
* black pill
* Black Pill
* Black Pill, Blackpill
* Black Plague
* black plastic crap
* black plate
* black pod
* black pool
* Black Pope
* black powder
* black power
* black propaganda
* black pudding
* black quahog
* black quarter
* black radio
* black rain
* black rent
* blackride
* blackrider
* black rider
* Black Rock
* Black Rod
* black room
* blackroot
* black rot
* Black Russia
* Black Ruthenia
* black Sabbath
* blacksalter
* black salts
* black salve
* black sanctus
* black sand
* Black Saturday
* Black Sea
* blackseed
* black sesame soup
* black shale
* black sheep
* blackshirt
* black shoe
* blackshop
* black-sick
* black Sigatoka, black sigatoka
* black silver
* blackskin
* blacksmith
* black smoker
* blacksnake
* black society
* blacksome
* black soup
* blackspeak
* blacksplain
* blackspot
* black spot
* black squall
* black start
* blackster
* blackstrap
* blackstream
* black stuff
* blackstuff
* black stump
* black supremacist
* black supremacy
* black swallowtail
* black swan
* blacktag
* blacktail
* black-tailed deer
* black tar
* black tea
* blackthorn
* black-throated
* black-throated magpie-jay
* black thumb
* Black Thursday
* black-tie
* black tie
* black tin
* blacktip
* blacktivist
* blacktop
* black top-hat transform
* black-topped
* Blacktown
* blacktracker
* blacktress
* black triangle
* Black Tuesday
* black up
* black urine disease
* black velvet
* black vine weevil
* Black Virgin
* black vomit
* black vulture
* black wallaby
* blackware
* blackwash
* blackwater
* black-water rafting
* black wedding
* black where it counts
* black widow
* black witch
* black woman
* blackwood
* Blackwood
* black woodpecker
* blackwork
* blacky, blackie, blackey
* Black Zionism
* black zone
* blak, Blak
* Blasian
* Blatino
* blax
* Blaxican
* Blaxit
* blaxploitation
* blerd
* Blewish
* blipster
* blue-black
* body in black
* bone black
* buppie
* Cablinasian
* cat calling the kettle black
* chocolate black
* coalblack
* coal black
* code black
* depressive suicidal black metal
* double black diamond
* driving while black
* European black pine
* everblack
* eyelash black
* good black don't crack
* have the black ox tread on one's foot
* Houston black
* in someone's black books
* interblack
* in the black
* jet black, jet-black
* Large Black
* little black book
* little black dress
* look on the black side
* monoblack
* non-black
* nonblack
* Norfolk Black
* normally black
* not as black as one is painted
* once you go black, you never go back
* Penny Black
* picture black
* pitch-black
* pitch black
* postblack
* pot calling the kettle black
* pro-black
* quasiblack
* red-tailed black cockatoo
* respotted black
* Russian black bread
* slate black
* sleep black
* this side of the black stump
* transblack
* unblack
* wack
* Welsh Black

#### Related terms

* blackamoor
* blackavised
* blackberry (Ribes nigrum)
* blackbird
* blacken
* blackness
* forblack

#### Descendants

* Bislama: blak
* Sranan Tongo: blaka
** Aukan: baaka
** → Caribbean Hindustani: blaaka
* Tok Pisin: blak
* Torres Strait Creole: blaik
* → Dutch: black
* → French: black
* → Greek: μπλάκης (blákis)

#### Translations
### Noun

black (countable and uncountable, plural blacks)
* (countable and uncountable) The colour/color perceived in the absence of light, but also when no light is reflected, but rather absorbed.
    black:
    Synonym: blackness
    Antonym: whiteness
** 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]:Black is the badge of hell, / The hue of dungeons, and the suit of night.
* (countable and uncountable) A black dye or pigment.
    Antonym: white
* (countable) A pen, pencil, crayon, etc., made of black pigment.
* (in the plural) Black cloth hung up at funerals.
** 1625, Francis Bacon, “Of Death”, in Essays:Groans, and convulsions, and a discolored face, and friends weeping, and blacks, and obsequies, and the like, show death terrible.
* (countable, sometimes capitalised, often offensive) A member of descendant of any of various (African, Aboriginal, etc) ethnic groups which typically have dark pigmentation of the skin.
** 1863, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter XXIV, in Miles Wallingford‎:"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, Charles Reade, Hard Cash‎: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.
** 2004, Anthony Joseph Paul Cortese, Provocateur: Images of Women and Minorities in Advertising, page 108:Prize-winning books continue a trend toward increased representation of blacks, accounting for most of the books with exclusively black characters.
* (uncountable, informal) Blackness, the condition of belonging to or being descended from one of these ethnic groups.
    black don't crack
* (countable, billiards, snooker, pool) The black ball.
* (countable, baseball) The edge of home plate.
* (countable, British) A type of firecracker that is really more dark brown in colour.
* (countable, informal) Short for blackcurrant.
    Pernod and black; snakebite and black; cider and black
** (chiefly UK) Blackcurrant as syrup or crème de cassis used for cocktails.
* (countable, chess) The person playing with the black set of pieces.
    At this point black makes a disastrous move.
* (countable) Something, or a part of a thing, which is black.
** 1644, Kenelm Digby, Two Treatises:the black or sight of the eye
* (obsolete, countable) A stain; a spot.
** 1619, William Rowley, All's Lost by Lust:defiling her white lawn of chastity with ugly blacks of lust
* A dark smut fungus, harmful to wheat.
* (US, slang) Marijuana.
** 2008, Jesmyn Ward, Where the Line Bleeds, Bloomsbury (2018), page 48: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.

#### Usage notes

* Use of the noun black to refer to a person is often considered offensive, especially in the singular, and several guides and dictionaries recommend against its usage. It is more appropriate to use "a Black person" or "Black people" in the place of "a Black" or "the Blacks", respectively.
* See the usage notes in the adjective section regarding the capitalization and scope of the term.

#### Derived terms

* acetylene black
* African black
* animal black
* Berlin black
* Black Act
* black and tan
* black and white
* black don't crack
* blackless
* Blackophobia
* blue-black
* boneblack
* Brunswick black
* carbon black
* channel black
* coal black
* cut to black
* eye black
* fade to black
* Frankfort black
* impingement black
* ivory black
* jet black, jet-black
* lampblack
* long black
* man in black, Man in Black
* Men in Black
* mineral black
* mulga black
* palladium black
* Pernod and black
* platinum black
* raisin black
* short black
* slate black
* smoke black
* smoky black
* Spanish black
* the new black
* toothblack
* two seconds to black

#### Descendants

* → Japanese: ブラック (burakku)
* → Volapük: bläg

#### Translations
### Verb

black (third-person singular simple present blacks, present participle blacking, simple past and past participle blacked)
* (transitive) To make black; to blacken.
    Synonyms: blacken, darken, swarten
** 1859, Oliver Optic, Poor and Proud; or, The Fortunes of Katy Redburn, a Story for Young Folks‎:"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."
** 1911, Edna Ferber, Buttered Side Down‎: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.
** 1922, John Galsworthy, A Family Man: In Three Acts‎:I saw red, and instead of a cab I fetched that policeman. Of course father did black his eye.
* (transitive) To apply blacking to (something).
** 1853, Harriet Beecher Stowe, The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin‎:[…] he must catch, curry, and saddle his own horse; he must black his own brogans (for he will not be able to buy boots).
** 1861, George William Curtis, Trumps: A Novel‎:But in a moment he went to Greenidge's bedside, and said, shyly, in a low voice, "Shall I black your boots for you?"
** 1911, Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson‎: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.
* (British, transitive) To boycott, usually as part of an industrial dispute.
    Synonyms: blackball, blacklist; see also Thesaurus:boycott
** 2003, Alun Howkins, The Death of Rural England, page 175: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.

#### Derived terms

* blacker
* black out
* blackout
* bootblack
* shoeblack

#### Translations
### See also

* café noir
* calamander
* chernozem
* melancholy
* melena
* nigrescence
* nigrosine
* rouge et noir
* skean-dhu
* (blacks) black; atrous, chocolate black, coal (coal black), colly, corbeau, crow/crow-black, ebony, inky, jet (jess, jet-black), licorice, midnight, nigrous, inky, obsidian, onyx, outer space, perse, pitch/pitch-black, raisin black, raven, sable, slate black, smoky black, Vantablack
Colors/Colours in English (layout · text) :
| red | orange | yellow | green | blue (incl. indigo; cyan, teal, turquoise) | purple / violet |
| pink (including magenta) | brown | | white | gray/grey | black |

### References

* “black”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
* black in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “black”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
* ↑ https://www.koeblergerhard.de/mnd/mnd_b.html
* ↑ “black adj.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present
* ↑ Baraniuk, Carol (2015). James Orr, Poet and Irish Radical. Routledge. p. 128. →ISBN; Barkley, John Monteith (1959) A Short History of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland p.36
* ↑ Mark Williams, "Ethnicity and Authenticity", in Comparative Literary Dimensions: Essays in Honor of Melvin J. Friedman, edited by Melvin J. Friedman, Jay L. Halio, Ben Siegel, University of Delaware Press (2000, →ISBN), page 194: "'Black' means very different things in different places. In America the word black usually means descended from Africa; East Indians are not generally defined as black there. In Britain, however, Asians often designate themselves as black. In New Zealand, Maori radicals sometimes use the world because it points to their difference from the dominant white culture in terms conveniently binary. Even vaguer uses of the word can be seen, such as the expression "Black Irish," which refers to Irish people supposedly descended from Spanish sailors, or " Black Maoris," who are believed by other Maoris to be descended from black sailors who jumped ship in the northern parts of New Zealand in the early contact period."
* ↑ Carolyn Whitzman, The Handbook of Community Safety Gender and Violence Prevention: Practical Planning Tools, Routledge (2012, →ISBN), page 46:"the term 'black' refers to many different groups, depending upon the country where it is used. In the US, black means African-Americans, usually descendants of slaves, although there are a growing number of recent black migrants from the Caribbean and Africa. In Canada, black means people of African origin as well, usually first- or second-generation migrants from the Caribbean, although there is a smaller, more established, community descended from refugees from slavery in th US. In the UK, black usually means people of South Asian descent, who may be new migrants or who may be second- or third-generation citizens. In Australia, black means the indigenous people or Aboriginal Australians, who are descendants of inhabitants who predated European settlement by over 40,000 years. In South Africa, black means the indigenous peoples as well […] "
* ↑ US Census Bureau definitions of racial groups; PBS article on American use
* ↑ See Citations:black.
* ↑ “AP changes writing style to capitalize ″b″ in Black”, in The Associated Press‎, 2020 June 20
* ↑ Nancy Coleman (2020 July 5) “Why We’re Capitalizing Black”, in New York Times
* ↑ Columbia Journalism Review, referring also to the Chicago Manual of Style
* ↑ “black”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present. "Use of the noun Black in the singular to refer to a person is considered offensive. The plural form Blacks is still commonly used by Black people and others to refer to Black people as a group or community, but the plural form too is increasingly considered offensive, and most style guides advise writers to use Black people rather than Blacks when practical."
* ↑ “black”, in Oxford Learner's Dictionaries: "Using the noun black to refer to people with dark skin can be offensive, so it is better to use the adjective: black people • a black man/woman . It is especially offensive to use the noun with the definite article (‘the blacks’)"
* ↑ “black”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present. "As a noun, however, it does often offend. The use of the plural noun without an article is somewhat more accepted (home ownership among Blacks ); however, the plural noun with an article is more likely to offend (political issues affecting the Blacks ), and the singular noun is especially likely to offend (The small business proprietor is a Black ). Use the adjective instead: Black homeowners, Black voters, a Black business proprietor."
* ↑ AP Stylebook: "Do not use [black] as a singular noun."

### Further reading

* black on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

## French
### Etymology

Borrowed from English black.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /blak/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: black

### Adjective

black (plural blacks)
* (relational) of black people or culture
    Synonym: noir

### Noun

black m or f by sense (plural blacks)
* black person
    Synonym: noir
** 2015, Ilham Maad, Noir, pas black‎:C’est qu’en France, les blancs n’existent pas et par contre la façon de parler des nonblancs existe et évolue avec le temps. Parce qu’effectivement, d’abord on était sur des termes purement et simplement racistes avec « bamboula, negro, nègre, bicot, bougnoule » et puis après ça a évolué et on est arrivé à « black, beur »… Donc je sais pas quand est-ce que ça a commencé exactement, moi je marque ça aux années 80, le hip hop, voilà, la black music…In France, there are no Whites, but names for non-Whites are constantly evolving. First we had terms that were purely and simply racist, like jigaboo, negro, nigger, coon, sambo... That evolved until we got to Black, Brownie... I'm not sure when that came in, but I guess it was the 1980s, with hip-hop and "Black music."

## Middle English
### Pronunciation

* Hyphenation: black

### Adjective

black
* Alternative form of blak

## Swedish
### Pronunciation

* Hyphenation: black

### Noun

black c
* a clog (weight such as a block of wood, attached to a human or animal to hinder motion)
* (figuratively, in "en black om foten" (a clog around the foot)) a ball and chain, a millstone round one's neck

#### Further reading

* Black (horse color) on the Swedish Wikipedia.Wikipedia $^{sv}$

### Adjective

black (not comparable)
* dun (of a horse)
* broke (without money)
    Synonym: pank
    Jag är helt blackI'm completely broke

#### Declension

$^1$ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. $^2$ Dated or archaic. $^3$ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

### References

* black in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* black in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* black in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)