Word: black Part of Speech: adj Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *blakaz Proto-West Germanic *blak Old English blæc Middle English blak English black 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”). Pronunciation: /blæk/ 1. Absorbing all light and reflecting none; dark and hueless. Example: The items around him were black in colour. Example: 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. 2. Without light. 3. 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.) Labels: capitalized, sometimes Example: Somebody tell me, what can I do / Something is holding me back / Is it because I'm black? Example: I believed that a huge injustice had been perpetrated for hundreds of years on every black man, woman, and child in the United States. 4. 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.) Labels: South-Africa, UK, US, capitalized, sometimes 5. Designated for use by those ethnic groups (as described above). Labels: historical Example: black drinking fountain; black hospital 6. Of the spades or clubs suits. Example: I was dealt two red queens, and he got one of the black queens. 7. Bad; evil; ill-omened. Example: black magic Example: […] 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. 8. Expressing menace or discontent; threatening; sullen. Example: He shot her a black look. Example: 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. 9. Illegitimate, illegal, or disgraced. Example: Foodstuffs were rationed and, as in other countries in a similar situation, the black market was flourishing. 10. Foul; dirty, soiled. Example: 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. 11. Overcrowded. Labels: Ireland, informal 12. Without any cream, milk, or creamer. Example: Jim drinks his coffee black, but Ellen prefers it with creamer. 13. 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). Example: The black pieces in this chess set are made of dark blue glass. Example: 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. 14. Said of a symbol or character that is solid, filled with color. Example: Compare two Unicode symbols: ☞ (“WHITE RIGHT POINTING INDEX”); ☛ (“BLACK RIGHT POINTING INDEX”). 15. Of or pertaining to anarchism; anarchist. 16. Related to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany. Labels: German Example: 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. Example: 5 percent of the Defense Department funding will go to black projects. Example: 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. Example: Pope Joan, who once occupied the throne of the Vatican, was reputed to be the blackest sorcerer of them all. Example: 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. 19. Protestant, often with the implication of being militantly pro-British or anti-Catholic. (Compare blackmouth ("Presbyterian").) Labels: Ireland, derogatory Example: the Black North Example: the Royal Black Institution 20. Having one or more features (hair, fur, armour, clothes, bark, etc.) that is dark (or black). Example: the black knight; black bile 21. Having one or more features (hair, fur, armour, clothes, bark, etc.) that is dark (or black). Labels: especially Example: black birch; black locust; black rhino 22. Sullen and solemn; bad-tempered and unhappy. Labels: Singapore, Singlish Example: 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.