black English · revision 2033

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 700 (Old English blæc)|origins=gem-pro *blakaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /blæk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|blak]], [[inh|ang|blæc]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gem-pro|*blakaz|t=burned]],^(Etymonline) the source of [[osx|blac|t=ink]], [[goh|blah|t=black]], [[non|blakkr|t=dark, dun]], [[sv|bläck|t=ink]] and [[nl|blaken|t=to burn]].^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(SOED 2002) Etymonline, Klein and Barnhart trace it to [[ine-pro|*bhleg-|t=to burn, gleam, shine]], also the source of [[grc|φλέγειν|tr=phlégein|t=to burn]] and [[la|flagrāre|t=to blaze, burn]],^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(Barnhart 1988) but Hoad and the Shorter Oxford call its ultimate origin unknown.^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) In Middle English it was confused with [[m|enm|blake|t=pale]], from [[ang|blāc|t=shining, pale]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It replaced Old English [[m|ang|sweart]] ([[swart]]) as the ordinary colour word.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of the colour of soot or coal, absorbing all light: Old English ''blæc'', recorded about 700.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The noun ''blæc'' also meant “ink”.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Because of the confusion with ''blake'' “pale”, a Middle English ''blak'' can mean either “dark” or “pale, wan”, and the surname ''Blake'' either.^(Etymonline) The sense “fierce, terrible, wicked” is from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) and the word has carried gloom since the Middle Ages and wickedness since Shakespeare's time.^(Cresswell 2021) It was used of dark-skinned people already in Old English;^(Etymonline) the noun “a black person” is from the 1620s, perhaps after Spanish ''negro''.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Black clothes worn in mourning are ''black'' from about 1400,^(Etymonline) coffee without milk from 1796,^(Etymonline) and ''in the black'' “in credit” (1922) comes from bookkeepers' black ink.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) The verb meant “to become black” about 1200 and “to make black” in the early 14th century;^(Etymonline) “to polish boots” is from the 1550s,^(Etymonline) and “to boycott in an industrial dispute” from the mid-20th century.^(SOED 2002) ''Blackmail'' (1552) was first the tribute paid to freebooters for protection,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) and a ''blackguard'' (1535) was a kitchen menial before he was a scoundrel (1736).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 700 – Old English ''blæc''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – verb, to become black.^(Etymonline)

+ * early 14th century – verb, to make black.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – wicked, terrible.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1400 – mourning clothes.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1535 – ''blackguard'', kitchen help.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1550s – verb, to polish boots.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1552 – ''blackmail'', protection tribute.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1620s – noun, a black person.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1796 – of coffee.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1922 – ''in the black''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of the darkest colour, like [[soot]] or [[coal]], reflecting almost no light.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Having little or no light; dark.^(AHD)

+ # Belonging to a group of people with dark skin, especially of African descent.^(AHD)

+ # Gloomy or [[sinister]]; wicked.^(AHD)^(HTOED)

+ # Of coffee, without milk or cream.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The colour black; black paint, dye or [[pigment]].^(AHD)^(HTOED)

+ # Black clothes, especially worn in [[mourning]].^(Etymonline)^(HTOED)

+ # A black person.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(in the black)'' The state of being in credit.^(SOED 2002)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make black; to [[polish]] with blacking.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(British)'' To [[boycott]] as part of a labour dispute.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[blackish]]

+ * [[blackly]]

+ * [[blackness]]

+ * [[blackishly]]

+ * [[blackishness]]

+ * [[blue-black]]

+ * [[boneblack]]

+ * [[jet-black]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[blackamoor]]

+ * [[blackbird]]

+ * [[blacken]]

+ * [[blackmail]]

+ * [[blackguard]]

+ * [[bleak]]

+ * [[swart]]

+ * [[flagrant]]

+ * [[flame]]

+ * [[phlegm]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ RHWU notes that ''black'' began to replace ''Negro'' in the late 1950s and is now the most widely used term, and that ''colored'' is often offensive.^(RHWU) The AHD notes that ''Black'' is often capitalized when used of people, which parallels names of other ethnic groups, though the lowercase form is still widely used.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}