black

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   marked by anger or resentment or hostility

   black looks

2. 2
   adj

   of or belonging to a racial group having dark skin especially of sub-Saharan African origin

   a great people--a black people--...injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization- Martin Luther King Jr.

3. 3
   adj

   extremely dark

   a black moonless night

4. 4
   adj

   (of the face) made black especially as with suffused blood

   a face black with fury

5. 5
   adj

   soiled with dirt or soot

   with feet black from playing outdoors

6. 6
   adj

   deserving or bringing disgrace or shame, referring to conduct or character

   The black record on the student's file was not pleasing for the parents to discover.

7. 7
   adj

   offering little or no hope

   the future looked black

8. 8
   adj

   distributed or sold illicitly

   the black economy pays no taxes

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…