Etymology
1. O.E.
blæc "black," from P.Gmc.
*blak- (cf. O.N.
blakkr "dark," Du.
blaken "to burn"), from PIE
*bhleg- "burn, gleam" (cf. Gk.
phlegein "to burn, scorch," L.
flagrare "to blaze, glow, burn"). Same root produced O.E.
blac "white, bright" (see bleach), the common notion being "lack of hue." The main O.E. word for "black" was
sweart. "In ME. it is often doubtful whether
blac, blak, blake, means 'black, dark,' or 'pale, colourless, wan, livid.' " Adjective used of dark-skinned people in O.E. The noun in this sense is first attested 1625 (
blackamoor is from 1547; see moor). Of coffee, first attested 1796. Sense of "dark purposes, malignant" emerged 1583 (e.g.
black art, 1590).
Black list "list of persons who have incurred suspicion" is from 1692.
Black market first attested 1931.
Black eye in figurative sense of "bad reputation" is from 1880s.
Blackberry was in O.E.;
blackbird is from 1486.
Black friar "Dominican" is first recorded 1500, so called from the color of their dress.
black widow spider (1915) so called from the female's supposed habit of eating the male after mating (they are cannibalistic, but this particular behavior is rare in the wild).
Black panther is from 1965, the movement an outgrowth of Student Nonviolent Co-ordinating Committee.
Black comedy first recorded 1963 (cf. Fr.
pièce noire). To be
in the black (1928) is from the accounting practice of recording credits and balances in black ink.
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-Germanic *blakaz
4. Proto-West Germanic *blak
5. Old English blæc
6. Middle English blak
7. English black
8. 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”).
9. 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”).
10. Adjective sense 20 is a semantic loan from Cantonese 黑面 (hak1 min6, “to pull a long face, to scowl”). See: Dutch '
blaken', Latin '
flagro'.
Verbs referencing "black"
Sranan
blaka.