- opposite to white; of the color of coal or pitch
- [sometimesB-]
- designating or of any of the dark-skinned traditional inhabitants of sub-Saharan Africa, Australia, or Melanesia or their descendants in other parts of the world
- by, for, or about black people as a group; specif., in the U.S., by, for, or about black Americans: black studies
- totally without light; in complete darkness
- very dark
- without cream, milk, etc.: said of coffee
- soiled; dirty
- wearing black clothing
- evil; wicked; harmful
- disgraceful
- full of sorrow or suffering; sad; dismal; gloomy
- disastrous
- sullen or angry: black looks
- without hope: a black future
- inveterate; confirmed; deep-dyed: a black villain
- humorous or satirical in a morbid or cynical way: black comedy
- secret; covert; hidden: a CIA black operator
Origin of black
Middle English blak from Old English blæc from Indo-European an unverified form bhleg-, burn, gleam (from source Classical Latin flagrare, flame, burn) from base an unverified form bhel-, to gleam, white: origin, originally sense, “sooted, smoke-black from flame”- black color
- a black pigment, paint, or dye
- any substance or thing that is black
- a spot or area that is black
- black clothes, esp. when worn in mourning
- [sometimesB-] a member of a black people
- complete darkness or absence of light
- Chess the player or side with the black or darker-colored pieces
- to make black; blacken
- to polish with blacking
black Idioms
black out
- to cover (writing, printing, etc.) with black pencil marks or paint
- to cause a blackout in
- to lose consciousness; faint
- to lose all memory of an event or fact
in the black
Origin of black
from the practice of entering a credit item in account books with black ink operating at a profit
into the black
into a profitable condition financially
