black

• adj. 黑色的；黑人的；邪惡的
• n. 黑色；黑人；黑顏料
• vt. 使變黑；把鞋油等塗在…上；把（眼眶）打成青腫
• vi. 變黑
• n. (Black)人名；(英、西)布萊克；(德、葡、捷)布拉克

來自PIE * bhel, 燃燒，發光。詞源同blank, blue. 在古英語裏black是一個詞義不明確的詞，既指黑的，也指白的，或其它顏色。

black

black: [OE] The usual Old English word for ‘black’ was sweart (source of modern English swart and swarthy, and related to German schwarz ‘black’), but black already existed (Old English blæc), and since the Middle English period it has replaced swart. Related but now extinct forms existed in other Germanic languages (including Old Norse blakkr ‘dark’ and Old Saxon blac ‘ink’), but the word’s ultimate source is not clear. Some have compared it with Latin flagrāre and Greek phlégein, both meaning ‘burn’, which go back to an Indo-European base *phleg-, a variant of *bhleg-.

black (adj.)

Old English blæc "dark," from Proto-Germanic *blakaz "burned" (cognates: Old Norse blakkr "dark," Old High German blah "black," Swedish bläck "ink," Dutch blaken "to burn"), from PIE *bhleg- "to burn, gleam, shine, flash" (cognates: Greek phlegein "to burn, scorch," Latin flagrare "to blaze, glow, burn"), from root *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn;" see bleach (v.).

The same root produced Old English blac "bright, shining, glittering, pale;" the connecting notions being, perhaps, "fire" (bright) and "burned" (dark). The usual Old English word for "black" was sweart (see swart). According to OED: "In ME. it is often doubtful whether blac, blak, blake, means 'black, dark,' or 'pale, colourless, wan, livid.' " Used of dark-skinned people in Old English.

Of coffee, first attested 1796. Meaning "fierce, terrible, wicked" is late 14c. The color of sin and sorrow since at least c. 1300; sense of "with dark purposes, malignant" emerged 1580s (as in black magic). Black face in reference to a performance style originated in U.S., is from 1868. Black flag, flown (especially by pirates) as a signal of "no mercy," from 1590s. Black dog "melancholy" attested from 1826. Black belt is from 1875 in reference to districts of the U.S. South with heaviest African population; 1870 with reference to fertility of soil; 1913 in judo sense. Black power is from 1966, associated with Stokely Carmichael.

black (v.)

c. 1200, "to become black;" early 14c., "to make black, darken;" from black (adj.). Related: Blacked; blacking.

black (n.)

Old English blæc "the color black," also "ink," from noun use of black (adj.). From late 14c. as "dark spot in the pupil of the eye." The meaning "black person, African" is from 1620s (perhaps late 13c., and blackamoor is from 1540s). To be in the black (1922) is from the accounting practice of recording credits and balances in black ink.

For years it has been a common practice to use red ink instead of black in showing a loss or deficit on corporate books, but not until the heavy losses of 1921 did the contrast in colors come to have a widely understood meaning. ["Saturday Evening Post," July 22, 1922]

1. In " the black cat " the adjective " black " modifies the noun " cat " .

在the black cat這一詞組中,形容詞 black 修飾名詞cat.

來自《簡明英漢詞典》

2. Poachers have been netting salmon to supply the black market.

盜獵者一直在捕撈大麻哈魚到黑市上去賣。

來自柯林斯例句

3. There is a plentiful supply of arms on the black market.

黑市上有大量武器出售。

來自柯林斯例句

4. I slowly zipped and locked the heavy black nylon bags.

我慢慢地把那些沉重的黑色尼龍袋的拉鏈拉上並鎖好。

來自柯林斯例句

5. She was demurely dressed in a black woollen suit.

她穿了一身黑色羊毛套裝，顯得很莊重。

來自柯林斯例句