Word: black Part of Speech: noun 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. The colour/color perceived in the absence of light, but also when no light is reflected, but rather absorbed. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Black is the badge of hell, / The hue of dungeons, and the suit of night. Example: 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. 2. A black dye or pigment. Labels: countable, uncountable 3. A pen, pencil, crayon, etc., made of black pigment. Labels: countable 4. Black cloth hung up at funerals. Labels: countable, in-plural, uncountable Example: Groans, and convulsions, and a discolored face, and friends weeping, and blacks, and obsequies, and the like, show death terrible. 5. A member or descendant of any of various (African, Aboriginal, etc) ethnic groups which typically have dark pigmentation of the skin. Labels: capitalized, countable, offensive, often, sometimes Example: "How! They surely cannot pretend that the black is an Englishman?" "There are all kinds of Englishmen, black and white, when seamen grow scarce. […]" Example: 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. 6. Blackness, the condition of belonging to or being descended from one of these ethnic groups. Labels: informal, uncountable Example: black don't crack 7. The black ball. Labels: countable 8. The edge of home plate. Labels: countable 9. A type of firecracker that is really more dark brown in colour. Labels: UK, countable 10. Blackcurrant syrup or crème de cassis used for cocktails. Labels: UK, informal, uncountable Example: Pernod and black; snakebite and black; cider and black 11. The person playing with the black set of pieces. Labels: countable Example: At this point black makes a disastrous move. Example: 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. 12. Something, or a part of a thing, which is black. Labels: countable Example: the black or sight of the eye 13. A stain; a spot. Labels: countable, obsolete Example: defiling her white lawn of chastity with ugly blacks of lust 14. A dark smut fungus, harmful to wheat. Labels: countable, uncountable 15. Marijuana. Labels: US, countable, slang, uncountable Example: 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. 16. The blackened, burned-out area at the centre of a fire. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The black is always the safest place for a firefighter. Example: 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.