black

Meaning

Adj

1. Absorbing all light and reflecting none; dark and hueless.
2. Without light.
3. (capitalized, sometimes) 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.)
4. (South-Africa, UK, US, capitalized, sometimes) 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.)
5. (historical) Designated for use by those ethnic groups (as described above).
6. Of the spades or clubs suits.
7. Bad; evil; ill-omened.
8. Expressing menace or discontent; threatening; sullen.
9. Illegitimate, illegal, or disgraced.
10. Foul; dirty, soiled.
11. (Ireland, informal) Overcrowded.
12. Without any cream, milk, or 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).
14. Said of a symbol or character that is solid, filled with color.
15. Of or pertaining to anarchism; anarchist.
16. (German) Related to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany.
17. Clandestine; relating to a political, military, or espionage operation or site, the existence or details of which is withheld from the general public.
18. Occult; relating to something (such as mystical or magical knowledge) which is unknown to or kept secret from the general public.
19. (Ireland, derogatory) Protestant, often with the implication of being militantly pro-British or anti-Catholic. (Compare blackmouth ("Presbyterian").)
20. Having one or more features (hair, fur, armour, clothes, bark, etc.) that is dark (or black).
21. (especially) Having one or more features (hair, fur, armour, clothes, bark, etc.) that is dark (or black).
22. (Singapore, Singlish) Sullen and solemn; bad-tempered and unhappy.

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) The colour/color perceived in the absence of light, but also when no light is reflected, but rather absorbed.
2. (countable, uncountable) A black dye or pigment.
3. (countable) A pen, pencil, crayon, etc., made of black pigment.
4. (countable, in-plural, uncountable) Black cloth hung up at funerals.
5. (capitalized, countable, offensive, often, sometimes) A member or descendant of any of various (African, Aboriginal, etc) ethnic groups which typically have dark pigmentation of the skin.
6. (informal, uncountable) Blackness, the condition of belonging to or being descended from one of these ethnic groups.
7. (countable) The black ball.
8. (countable) The edge of home plate.
9. (British, countable) A type of firecracker that is really more dark brown in colour.
10. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, informal) Ellipsis of blackcurrant.
11. (UK, countable, informal, uncountable) Ellipsis of blackcurrant.
12. (countable) The person playing with the black set of pieces.
13. (countable) Something, or a part of a thing, which is black.
14. (countable, obsolete) A stain; a spot.
15. (countable, uncountable) A dark smut fungus, harmful to wheat.
16. (US, countable, slang, uncountable) Marijuana.

Verb

1. (transitive) To make black; to blacken.
2. (transitive) To apply blacking to (something).
3. (British, transitive) To boycott, usually as part of an industrial dispute.

Opposite of

white, light, bright, illuminated, lit, whiteness

Synonyms

dark

blackness

Negro

dirty

pitch-black

dark-coloured

dark-blue

blue

blacken

blackened

swarthy

gloomy

murky

negro

blackish

nigrify

black person

dim

plum

sable

pitch-dark

melanize

darken

melanise

bleak

lightlessness

black-market

total darkness

bad

👎

Negroid

very black

Black

black color

whip snake

grim

dusky

Afro-American

sinister

deep blue

dismal

evil

contraband

bootleg

dark colour

grimy

somber

nigger

nasty

negative

opaque

Translations

noir

negro

nero

zwart

schwarz

negre

preto

siyah

negro

μαύρος

niger

kara

Schwarz

أسود

Pronounced as (IPA)

/blæk/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: blak

Inherited from Old English: blæc

Cognate with Dutch: blaken

Cognate with Low German: blak, black

Cognate with Old High German: blah

Cognate with Latin: flagro

Cognate with Ancient Greek: φλόξ

Cognate with Sanskrit: भर्ग

In summary

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”).

Sentences

These hairs , which disappear over time , cover dark brown to black bud scales .

Colours were tangerine and black .

The definition of a black cow varies by region .

The male has a black bill , whereas the female has red on the mandibles .

He heard a muffled grating sound and saw the black mark jerk forward an inch or so .

It is sometimes found on black olives , improperly stored food grains and peanuts .