black

1 of 3

adjective

1
: having the very dark color of the night sky or the eye's pupil : of the color black (see black entry 2 sense 2)
a black sweater
a black dog
as black as coal
2
Black or less commonly black
a
: of or relating to any of various population groups of especially African ancestry often considered as having dark pigmentation of the skin but in fact having a wide range of skin colors
Black Americans

Note: Capitalization of Black in this use is now widely established.

b
: of or relating to Black people and often especially to African American people or their culture
Black literature
a Black college
Black pride
Black studies

Note: Capitalization of Black in this use is now widely established.

3
: dressed in black (see black entry 2 sense 2)
playing for the black team
4
: dirty, soiled
hands black with grime
5
a
: characterized by the absence of light
a black night
b
: reflecting or transmitting little or no light
black water
c
: served without milk or cream
black coffee
6
a
old-fashioned + literary : thoroughly sinister or evil : wicked
When the King heard of this black deed, in his grief and rage he denounced relentless war against his Barons …Charles Dickens
b
: indicative of condemnation or discredit
got a black mark for being late
c
: heavy, serious
the play was a black intrigue
7
: connected with or invoking the supernatural and especially the devil
black magic
the black arts
8
a
: very sad, gloomy, or calamitous
black despair
b
: marked by the occurrence of disaster
black Friday
9
a
: characterized by hostility or angry discontent : sullen
black resentment filled his heart
b
: distorted or darkened by anger
his face was black with rage
10
: having dark skin, hair, and eyes
the black Irish
11
chiefly British : subject to boycott by trade-union members as employing or favoring nonunion workers or as operating under conditions considered unfair by the trade union
a ship that was declared black by the union
12
a
of propaganda : conducted so as to appear to originate within an enemy country and designed to weaken enemy morale
Black propaganda … is the business of going to elaborate ends to spread half-true, misleading or downright false information to get your enemy in trouble.Everett G. Martin
b
: characterized by or connected with the use of black propaganda
Press reports say that in addition to dropping leaflets over urban areas, messages were broadcast over two "black" radio stations, … both of which were operated by the CIA.Strategic Intelligence
13
: characterized by grim, distorted, or grotesque satire
black humor
14
: of or relating to covert intelligence operations
black government programs
15
: having a very deep or low register (see register entry 1 sense 4b)
a bass with a black voice
blackish adjective
blackly adverb

black

2 of 3

noun

1
: a pigment or dye of the color black : a black pigment or dye
especially : one consisting largely of carbon
2
: the achromatic (see achromatic sense 3) color of least lightness characteristically perceived to belong to objects that neither reflect nor transmit light
walls painted in black
3
: something that is black: such as
a
: black clothing
looks good in black
b
: a black animal (such as a horse)
c
baseball : the narrow, black edge of home plate
a pitch on the black [=a pitch that crosses over the very edge of home plate]
4
Black or less commonly black
a
: a person belonging to any of various population groups of especially African ancestry often considered as having dark pigmentation of the skin but in fact having a wide range of skin colors

Note: Capitalization of Black in this use is now widely established.

b
: african american

Note: Capitalization of Black in this use is now widely established.

Note: Use of the noun Black in the singular to refer to a person is considered offensive. The plural form Blacks is still commonly used by Black people and others to refer to Black people as a group or community, but the plural form too is increasingly considered offensive, and most style guides advise writers to use Black people rather than Blacks when practical.

5
in board games : the pieces of a dark color in a board game for two players (such as chess)
black moves second
6
: total or nearly total absence of light
the black of night
7
: the condition of making a profit
usually used with the
operating in the black
compare red sense 6

black

3 of 3

verb

blacked; blacking; blacks

intransitive verb

: to become black (see black entry 1) : blacken
As she leaned against the stone cross … , the sky blacked with clouds.Hugh Coleman Davidson

transitive verb

1
: to make black
blacked his boots
2
chiefly British : to declare (something, such as a business or industry) subject to boycott by trade-union members

Examples of black in a Sentence

Adjective we adopted a little black kitten Noun The wall was painted in black. a mixture of grays and blacks She was dressed in black. Verb He blacked his boots with polish. Labor union members have blacked the company.
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
The famous pink axolotls, as well as other color variants such as white, blue, yellow and black, are genetic anomalies that are rare in the wild but selectively bred for in the pet trade. Kate Golembiewski, CNN, 16 Mar. 2024 The abode is decked out with soaring 13-foot ceilings and tons of high-end finishes like multi-level lighting from Panzeri and Olev, beige limestone floors, and a statement fireplace in ivory-veined black Siena stone. Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 15 Mar. 2024 Another photo showcased her sporting an oversize black zip-up jacket. Jordan Greene, Peoplemag, 15 Mar. 2024 Zuckerberg's suit featured gold dragonfly embellishments while Chan's black dress featured some gold flowers to match. Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 4 Mar. 2024 When officers confronted Castillo and ordered him to the ground, Castillo is alleged to have removed a black Glock 22 handgun and thrown it on the ground, according to court documents. Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 21 Feb. 2024 In the dark of morning on Feb. 12, two people in Alabama – dressed in head-to-toe black clothing and looking to make a buck – stole an ATM machine. Emily Palmer, Peoplemag, 21 Feb. 2024 Walter Evans is a black physician who has assembled a stellar collection of books, art, and manuscripts about black subjects in America. Brian T. Allen, National Review, 8 Feb. 2024 Underneath her cardi, a lacy black bra peeked through. Alex Kessler, Vogue, 8 Feb. 2024
Noun
Previously, the red edition of the re-recording had only been available as a Target exclusive, while the vinyl sold from Swift’s official webstore was just basic black when the album was released in Nov. 2021. Glenn Rowley, Billboard, 2 Feb. 2023 Take your pick from black to mocha to crisp, winter white. Taylor Jean Stephan, Peoplemag, 31 Jan. 2023 Other restrictions and black-out dates also may apply, the airline said. Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 31 Jan. 2023 Flaunt this fun, floral style, or opt for their best-selling classic black. Meg Donohue, Town & Country, 31 Jan. 2023 In his use of gold and black, Gupta incorporated ancient Egypt. Allyson Portee, Forbes, 27 Jan. 2023 Everyone observed by wearing black – or jet -- accessories. Brenda Yenke, cleveland, 26 Jan. 2023 Available in stainless steel or black, this is the largest capacity electric oven in its class, according to LG. Eva Bleyer, Good Housekeeping, 26 Jan. 2023 Ava style in black and cream, Doen’s velvet slippers and Aeyde’s square-toe ballerina pumps, has made fancy flats a staple of her everyday wardrobe, and styles them with everything from denim to jumpsuits. Alice Cary, Vogue, 26 Jan. 2023
Verb
The site’s background will be changed to black as per your request. Wes Davis, The Verge, 4 Mar. 2024 Look, Laurence Olivier blacked up to play Othello, and no one grumbled about that. Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Jan. 2024 After Glazer’s film cuts to black at the end, the music reemerges in a nightmarish march of yawping voices. Tim Greiving, Los Angeles Times, 12 Dec. 2023 The censored ending in China cut the film to black before the citywide destruction. Zack Sharf, Variety, 30 Oct. 2023 In fact, both Silverman and Baddiel have blackface episodes in their past: Baddiel wore blackface and fake dreadlocks in a 1995 impression of the soccer player Jason Lee; in 2007, Silverman blacked up for a sketch on her Comedy Central show. Jody Rosen, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2023 By expressing skin tone using only a sliding scale from lightest to darkest or white to black, today’s common measures ignore the contribution of yellow and red hues to the range of human skin, according to Sony researchers. Paresh Dave, WIRED, 3 Oct. 2023 Available in sizes: 27–32 Fabric: Cotton 5/25 Levi's Women's 314 Shaping Straight Jeans With eight wash options, ranging from light blue denim to black, and sizes 24 to 34, these tapered-leg jeans work across a wide mix of body types and preferences. Nykia Spradley, Glamour, 21 Sep. 2023 While the rest of the kitchen prepares the gooey mac and cheese, crisp coleslaw and signature BBQ rice to be served as sides, Sebastian slides on a pair of thick rubber gloves burned to black at the fingertips. Camryn Brewer, Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'black.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English blak, blake, going back to Old English blæc, blac "black, (of other colors) dark," going back to West Germanic *blaka- (whence also Old Saxon blak "ink," Middle Low German black, blak, Middle Dutch blak, Old High German blah- only in compounds, as blahfaro "ink-colored, deep blue"), perhaps adjectival derivative of a verb *blakōn- (whence Middle Dutch & Middle Low German blaken "to burn, scorch"), from a verbal base *blak- (whence also Old High German blecken, blec(c)hen "to flash [of lightning], shine, sparkle" < *blakjan-), o-grade ablaut of Indo-European *bhleg- "shine, be bright" — more at phlegm

Note: For this etymology to work, the original meaning of *blaka- would have been "burned, scorched," then, by a not implausible shift, "blackened by fire," then simply "black." In Old English, blæc is sometimes spelled blac, which creates potential confusion with blāc "bright, shining, pale, pallid," ordinarily not spelled with any indication of vowel length, and sometimes spelled blæc. In Middle English potential confusion is to some degree increased by lengthening of vowels in open syllables, revealed by such spellings as blaak and blake for blak. Old English blāc emerges in Middle English, in a small number of texts, as blok, though blak(e) is found in some Midland and northern texts. — Presumably related to *blaka- is an adjective *blank- with infixed n—see blank entry 1. In Germanic, alongside *blek-/*blak- there is a semantically similar strong verb with a diphthong *blīk-/*blaik-/*blik- along with an adjective *blaik- "bright," the source of Old English blāc cited above—see bleach entry 1.

Noun

Middle English blak, blake, going back to Old English blæc, derivative of blæc black entry 1

Verb

Middle English blaken, derivative of blak, blake black entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

13th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of black was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near black

Cite this Entry

“Black.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/black. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

black

1 of 3 adjective
1
a
: of the color black
b
: very dark
2
often capitalized : of or relating to various peoples having dark skin and especially those of African origin or ancestry
black people
3
a
: evil entry 1 sense 1, wicked
a black deed
b
: very sad or gloomy
the outlook was black
4
: characterized by grim or distorted humor
blackish adjective
blackly adverb
blackness noun

black

2 of 3 noun
1
: a black pigment or dye
especially : one consisting largely of carbon
2
: the characteristic color of soot or coal
3
: black clothing
dressed in black
4
: a black animal (as a horse)
5
a
: a person belonging to any of various peoples with dark skin and especially one who has African ancestry
6
: absence of light : darkness
the black of night
7
: the condition of making a profit
in the black

black

3 of 3 verb

Geographical Definition

Black

geographical name

1
river 101 miles (162 kilometers) long in east central Louisiana flowing south into the Red River
2
or in China Amo or in Vietnam Da river 500 miles (805 kilometers) long in southeastern Asia rising in central Yunnan, China, and flowing southeast to the Red River in northern Vietnam

Biographical Definition

Black 1 of 2

biographical name (1)

Hugo LaFayette 1886–1971 American jurist and politician

Black

2 of 2

biographical name (2)

Sir James Whyte 1924–2010 British pharmacologist

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