black
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
A white snookered on two reds by a black and a green.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Etymology
From Middle English black, blak, from Old English blæc (“black, dark", also "ink”), from Proto-Germanic *blakaz, *blakkaz (“burnt”) (compare Dutch blaken 'to burn', Old High German blah 'black', Old Norse blakkr 'dark', blakra 'to blink'), from Proto-Indo-European *bhleg- (“to burn, shine”) (compare Latin flagare 'to shine', flagrare 'to burn', Ancient Greek φλόξ (phlox) 'flame', Sanskrit bharga 'radiance'). More at bleach.
[edit] Adjective
black (comparative blacker, superlative blackest)
- (of an object) absorbing all light and reflecting none; dark and colourless.
- (of a place, etc) without light.
- (sometimes capitalize) Relating to persons of (usually noticeable) negroid African descent or their culture. Also people of Aborigine or Maori descent.
- Bad; evil; ill-omened.
- 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.
- 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.
- Illegitimate, illegal or disgraced.
- 1866, The Contemporary Review, London: A. Strahan, page 338.
- Foodstuffs were rationed and, as in other countries in a similar situation, the black market was flourishing.
- 1866, The Contemporary Review, London: A. Strahan, page 338.
- (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) The standard denomination of the playing pieces of a board game deemed to belong to the "black" set, no matter what the actual colour.
- The black pieces in this set are in fact made of dark blue glass.
[edit] Synonyms
- (dark and colourless): dark
- (without light): dark, gloomy, pitch-black
[edit] Antonyms
- (dark and colourless): white
- (without light): bright, illuminated, lit
[edit] Translations
absorbing all light
without light
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relating to persons of African descent
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Bad; evil
Illegitimate, illegal or disgraced
without milk
chess: said of the color opposing "white"
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
[edit] Noun
black (plural blacks)
- The colour/color perceived in the absence of light.
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black colour:
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- A black dye, pigment.
- A pen, pencil, crayon, etc., made of black pigment.
- (in the plural) Black cloth hung up at funerals.
- 1625, Francis Bacon, "Of Death", Essays:
- Groans, and convulsions, and a discolored face, and friends weeping, and blacks, and obsequies, and the like, show death terrible.
- 1625, Francis Bacon, "Of Death", Essays:
- (sometimes capitalised) A person of African descent, Aborigine or Maori.
- (billiards, snooker, pool, with the) The black ball.
- (baseball) The edge of home plate
- (UK) a type of firecracker that is really more dark brown in colour.
- (informal) blackcurrant syrup (in mixed drinks, e.g. snakebite and black, cider and black).
- In chess and similar games, the person playing with the black set of pieces.
- At this point black makes a disastrous move.
[edit] Synonyms
- (colour or absence of light):
- (person)
- (standard) African American (in the US), Afro-American (in the US), person of color (US) or person of colour (UK), person of African descent
- (usually derogatory) Negro
- (derogatory) coon, darkie or darky, nigger
[edit] Antonyms
- (colour, dye, pen) white
[edit] Translations
colour/color
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dye, pigment
pen, pencil, etc
person
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billiards, snooker, pool
baseball
[edit] Verb
black (third-person singular simple present blacks, present participle blacking, simple past and past participle blacked)
- To make black, to blacken.
- 1859, Oliver Optic, Poor and Proud; or, The Fortunes of Katy Redburn, a Story for Young Folks [1]
- "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 [2]
- 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 [3]
- I saw red, and instead of a cab I fetched that policeman. Of course father did black his eye.
- 1859, Oliver Optic, Poor and Proud; or, The Fortunes of Katy Redburn, a Story for Young Folks [1]
- To apply blacking to something.
- 1853, Harriet Beecher Stowe, The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin [4]
- ...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 [5]
- 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 [6]
- 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.
- 1853, Harriet Beecher Stowe, The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin [4]
- (UK) To boycott something or someone, usually as part of an industrial dispute.
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Translations
to blacken — see blacken
[edit] Derived terms
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[edit] Related terms
[edit] See also
[edit] Statistics
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Most common English words before 1923: question · doubt · around · #408: black · lady · truth · turn
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
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- 1000 English basic words
- en:Blacks
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