Black

This article is about the color. For other uses, see .

Black Color coordinates#000000B(, , )(0, 0, 0)H (, , , )(0, 0, 0, 100) (, , )(–°, –%, 0%)SourceBy definitionB: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)Black is the darkest color, the result of the absence or complete of . It is an achromatic color, a color without , like and . It is often used or to represent darkness, while represents light. Black and white have often been used to describe opposites such as and , the versus , and versus . Since the , black has been the symbolic color of solemnity and authority, and for this reason is still commonly worn by judges and magistrates, including the justices of the .

Black was one of the first colors used by artists in cave paintings. In the 14th century, it was worn by royalty, clergy, judges and government officials in much of Europe. It became the color worn by English romantic poets, businessmen and statesmen in the 19th century, and a high fashion color in the 20th century. In the , it became the color of mourning, and over the centuries it was frequently associated with , evil, witches and magic. According to surveys in Europe and North America, it is the color most commonly associated with mourning, the end, secrets, magic, force, violence, evil, and elegance.

Black is the most common color used for printing books, newspapers and documents, as it provides the highest contrast with white paper and thus the easiest color to read. Similarly, black text on a white screen is the most common format used on computer screens.

Contents Etymology[] The word black comes from blæc ("black, dark", also, "ink"), from *blakkaz ("burned"), from *bhleg- ("to burn, gleam, shine, flash"), from base *bhel- ("to shine"), related to blak ("ink"), blach ("black"), blakkr ("dark"), blaken ("to burn"), and bläck ("ink"). More distant cognates include flagrare ("to blaze, glow, burn"), and phlegein ("to burn, scorch").

The Ancient Greeks sometimes used the same word to name different colors, if they had the same intensity. Kuanos' could mean both dark blue and black.

The Ancient Romans had two words for black: ater was a flat, dull black, while niger was a brilliant, saturated black. Ater has vanished from the vocabulary, but niger was the source of the country name Nigeria, the English word Negro, and the word for "black" in most modern (: noir; : negro; : nero ).

also had two words for black: swartz for dull black and blach for a luminous black. These are parallelled in by the terms swart for dull black and blaek for luminous black. Swart still survives as the word swarthy, while blaek became the modern English black .

In heraldry, the word used for the black color is , named for the black fur of the , an animal.

Art[] Prehistoric[] Black was one of the first colors used in art. The in France contains drawings of bulls and other animals drawn by artists between 18,000 and 17,000 years ago. They began by using charcoal, and then made more vivid black pigments by burning bones or grinding a powder of .

Ancient[] For the ancient Egyptians, black had positive associations; being the color of fertility and the rich black soil flooded by the Nile. It was the color of , the god of the underworld, who took the form of a black , and offered protection against evil to the dead.

For the ancient Greeks, black was also the color of the underworld, separated from the world of the living by the river , whose water was black. Those who had committed the worst sins were sent to , the deepest and darkest level. In the center was the palace of , the king of the underworld, where he was seated upon a black throne. Black was one of the most important colors used by ancient Greek artists. In the 6th century BC, they began making and later , using a highly original technique. In black-figure pottery, the artist would paint figures with a glossy clay on a red clay pot. When the pot was fired, the figures painted with the slip would turn black, against a red background. Later they reversed the process, painting the spaces between the figures with slip. This created magnificent red figures against a glossy black background.

In the social hierarchy of , purple was the color reserved for the Emperor; red was the color worn by soldiers (red cloaks for the officers, red tunics for the soldiers); white the color worn by the priests, and black was worn by craftsmen and artisans. The black they wore was not deep and rich; the vegetable dyes used to make black were not solid or lasting, so the blacks often turned out faded gray or brown.

In , the word for black, ater and to darken, atere, were associated with cruelty, brutality and evil. They were the root of the English words "atrocious" and "atrocity". Black was also the Roman color of death and mourning. In the 2nd century BC Roman magistrates began to wear a dark toga, called a toga pulla, to funeral ceremonies. Later, under the Empire, the family of the deceased also wore dark colors for a long period; then, after a banquet to mark the end of mourning, exchanged the black for a white toga. In Roman poetry, death was called the hora nigra, the black hour.

The German and Scandinavian peoples worshipped their own goddess of the night, , who crossed the sky in a chariot drawn by a black horse. They also feared , the goddess of the kingdom of the dead, whose skin was black on one side and red on the other. They also held sacred the . They believed that , the king of the Nordic pantheon, had two black ravens, Huginn and Muninn, who served as his agents, traveling the world for him, watching and listening.

Postclassical[] In the early Middle Ages, black was commonly associated with darkness and evil. In Medieval paintings, the devil was usually depicted as having human form, but with wings and black skin or hair.

12th and 13th centuries[] In fashion, black did not have the prestige of red, the color of the nobility. It was worn by monks as a sign of humility and penitence. In the 12th century a famous theological dispute broke out between the monks, who wore white, and the Benedictines, who wore black. A Benedictine abbot, Pierre the Venerable, accused the Cistercians of excessive pride in wearing white instead of black. Saint , the founder of the Cistercians responded that black was the color of the devil, hell, "of death and sin," while white represented "purity, innocence and all the virtues".

Black symbolized both power and secrecy in the medieval world. The emblem of the Holy Roman Empire of Germany was a black eagle. The in the poetry of the Middle Ages was an enigmatic figure, hiding his identity, usually wrapped in secrecy.

Black , invented in China, was traditionally used in the Middle Ages for writing, for the simple reason that black was the darkest color and therefore provided the greatest contrast with white paper or parchment, making it the easiest color to read. It became even more important in the 15th century, with the invention of . A new kind of ink, printer's ink, was created out of , and . The new ink made it possible to spread ideas to a mass audience through printed books, and to popularize art through black and white engravings and prints. Because of its contrast and clarity, black ink on white paper continued to be the standard for printing books, newspapers and documents; and for the same reason black text on a white background is the most common format used on computer screens.

14th and 15th centuries[] In the early Middle Ages, princes, nobles and the wealthy usually wore bright colors, particularly cloaks from Italy. Black was rarely part of the wardrobe of a noble family. The one exception was the fur of the . This glossy black fur, from an animal of the family, was the finest and most expensive fur in Europe. It was imported from Russia and Poland and used to trim the robes and gowns of royalty.

In the 14th century, the status of black began to change. First, high-quality black dyes began to arrive on the market, allowing garments of a deep, rich black. Magistrates and government officials began to wear black robes, as a sign of the importance and seriousness of their positions. A third reason was the passage of in some parts of Europe which prohibited the wearing of costly clothes and certain colors by anyone except members of the nobility. The famous bright scarlet cloaks from and the peacock blue fabrics from were restricted to the nobility. The wealthy bankers and merchants of northern Italy responded by changing to black robes and gowns, made with the most expensive fabrics.

The change to the more austere but elegant black was quickly picked up by the kings and nobility. It began in northern Italy, where the Duke of Milan and the Count of Savoy and the rulers of Mantua, Ferrara, Rimini and Urbino began to dress in black. It then spread to France, led by , younger brother of King . It moved to England at the end of the reign of King (1377–1399), where all the court began to wear black. In 1419–20, black became the color of the powerful Duke of Burgundy, . It moved to Spain, where it became the color of the Spanish Habsburgs, of and of his son, (1527–1598). European rulers saw it as the color of power, dignity, humility and temperance. By the end of the 16th century, it was the color worn by almost all the monarchs of Europe and their courts.

Modern[] 16th and 17th centuries[] While black was the color worn by the Catholic rulers of Europe, it was also the emblematic color of the Protestant Reformation in Europe and the Puritans in England and America. , and other Protestant theologians denounced the richly colored and decorated interiors of Roman Catholic churches. They saw the color red, worn by the Pope and his Cardinals, as the color of luxury, sin, and human folly. In some northern European cities, mobs attacked churches and cathedrals, smashed the stained glass windows and defaced the statues and decoration. In Protestant doctrine, clothing was required to be sober, simple and discreet. Bright colors were banished and replaced by blacks, browns and grays; women and children were recommended to wear white.

In the Protestant Netherlands, used this sober new palette of blacks and browns to create portraits whose faces emerged from the shadows expressing the deepest human emotions. The Catholic painters of the Counter-Reformation, like , went in the opposite direction; they filled their paintings with bright and rich colors. The new churches of the were usually shining white inside and filled with statues, frescoes, marble, gold and colorful paintings, to appeal to the public. But European Catholics of all classes, like Protestants, eventually adopted a sober wardrobe that was mostly black, brown and gray.

In the second part of the 17th century, Europe and America experienced an epidemic of fear of . People widely believed that the devil appeared at midnight in a ceremony called a or black sabbath, usually in the form of a black animal, often a goat, a dog, a wolf, a bear, a deer or a rooster, accompanied by their , black cats, serpents and other black creatures. This was the origin of the widespread superstition about black cats and other black animals. In medieval , in a ceremony called Kattenstoet, black cats were thrown from the belfry of the Cloth Hall of to ward off witchcraft.

Witch trials were common in both Europe and America during this period. During the notorious in New England in 1692–93, one of those on trial was accused of being able turn into a "black thing with a blue cap," and others of having familiars in the form of a black dog, a black cat and a black bird. Nineteen women and men were hanged as witches.

18th and 19th centuries[] In the 18th century, during the European , black receded as a fashion color. Paris became the fashion capital, and pastels, blues, greens, yellow and white became the colors of the nobility and upper classes. But after the , black again became the dominant color.

Black was the color of the , largely fueled by , and later by oil. Thanks to coal , the buildings of the large cities of Europe and America gradually turned . By 1846 the industrial area of the West Midlands of England was "commonly called 'the '”. and other writers described the dark streets and smoky skies of London, and they were vividly illustrated in the engravings of French artist .

A different kind of black was an important part of the in literature. Black was the color of , the dominant theme of romanticism. The novels of the period were filled with castles, ruins, dungeons, storms, and meetings at midnight. The leading poets of the movement were usually portrayed dressed in black, usually with a white shirt and open collar, and a scarf carelessly over their shoulder, and Lord Byron helped create the enduring stereotype of the romantic poet.

The invention of new, inexpensive synthetic black dyes and the industrialization of the textile industry meant that good-quality black clothes were available for the first time to the general population. In the 19th century gradually black became the most popular color of business dress of the upper and middle classes in England, the Continent, and America.

Black dominated literature and fashion in the 19th century, and played a large role in painting. made the color the subject of his most famous painting, Arrangement in grey and black number one (1871), better known as .

Some 19th-century French painters had a low opinion of black: "Reject black," said, "and that mix of black and white they call gray. Nothing is black, nothing is gray." But used blacks for their strength and dramatic effect. Manet's portrait of painter was a study in black which perfectly captured her spirit of independence. The black gave the painting power and immediacy; he even changed her eyes, which were green, to black to strengthen the effect. quoted the French impressionist telling him, "Manet is stronger than us all – he made light with black."

used luminous blacks, especially in his portraits. When someone told him that black was not a color, Renoir replied: "What makes you think that? Black is the queen of colors. I always detested Prussian blue. I tried to replace black with a mixture of red and blue, I tried using cobalt blue or ultramarine, but I always came back to ivory black."

used black lines to outline many of the objects in his paintings, such as the bed in the famous painting of his bedroom. making them stand apart. His painting of black crows over a cornfield, painted shortly before he died, was particularly agitated and haunting.

In the late 19th century, black also became the color of . (See the section .)

20th and 21st centuries[] In the 20th century, black was the color of Italian and German . (See the section .)

In art, black regained some of the territory that it had lost during the 19th century. The Russian painter , a member of the movement, created the in 1915, is widely considered the first purely abstract painting. He wrote, "The painted work is no longer simply the imitation of reality, but is this very reality ... It is not a demonstration of ability, but the materialization of an idea."

Black was also appreciated by . "When I didn't know what color to put down, I put down black," he said in 1945. "Black is a force: I used black as ballast to simplify the construction ... Since the impressionists it seems to have made continuous progress, taking a more and more important part in color orchestration, comparable to that of the double bass as a solo instrument."

In the 1950s, black came to be a symbol of individuality and intellectual and social rebellion, the color of those who didn't accept established norms and values. In Paris, it was worn by Left-Bank intellectuals and performers such as , and by some members of the in New York and San Francisco. Black leather jackets were worn by motorcycle gangs such as the and street gangs on the fringes of society in the United States. Black as a color of rebellion was celebrated in such films as , with . By the end of the 20th century, black was the emblematic color of the , and the . Goth fashion, which emerged in England in the 1980s, was inspired by mourning dress.

In men's fashion, black gradually ceded its dominance to navy blue, particularly in business suits. Black evening dress and formal dress in general were worn less and less. In 1960, was the last American President to be inaugurated wearing formal dress; President and all his successors were inaugurated wearing business suits.

Women's fashion was revolutionized and simplified in 1926 by the French designer , who published a drawing of a simple black dress in Vogue magazine. She famously said, "A woman needs just three things; a black dress, a black sweater, and, on her arm, a man she loves." French designer also followed suit by creating a black collection in 1929. Other designers contributed to the trend of the . The Italian designer said, "Black is the quintessence of simplicity and elegance," and French designer said, "black is the liaison which connects art and fashion. One of the most famous black dresses of the century was designed by and was worn by in the 1961 film .

The American in the 1950s was a struggle for the political equality of . It developed into the movement in the late 1960s and 1970s, and popularized the slogan "".

In the 1990s, the became the banner of several , groups. (See the section .)

Science[] Physics[] Main article: In the , black is the absorption of all colors. Black can be defined as the visual impression experienced when no reaches the eye. or that absorb light rather than reflect it back to the eye "look black". A black pigment can, however, result from a combination of several pigments that collectively absorb all colors. If appropriate proportions of three primary pigments are mixed, the result reflects so little light as to be called "black". This provides two superficially opposite but actually complementary descriptions of black. Black is the absorption of all colors of light, or an exhaustive combination of multiple colors of pigment.

In physics, a is a perfect absorber of light, but, by a thermodynamic rule, it is also the best emitter. Thus, the best radiative cooling, out of sunlight, is by using black paint, though it is important that it be black (a nearly perfect absorber) in the as well. In elementary science, far light is called "" because, while itself unseen, it causes many minerals and other substances to .

On January 16, 2008, researchers from 's announced the creation of the then darkest material on the planet. The material, which reflected only 0.045 percent of light, was created from stood on end. This is 1/30 of the light reflected by the current standard for blackness, and one third the light reflected by the previous record holder for darkest substance. As of February 2016, the current darkest material known is claimed to be .

Absorption of light is contrasted by , and , where the light is only redirected, causing objects to appear transparent, reflective or white respectively. A material is said to be black if most incoming light is equally in the material. Light ( in the ) with the and , which causes the energy of the light to be converted into other forms of energy, usually heat. This means that black surfaces can act as thermal collectors, absorbing light and generating heat (see ).

Chemistry[] Pigments[] The earliest pigments used by Neolithic man were , and . The black lines of cave art were drawn with the tips of burnt torches made of a wood with . Different charcoal pigments were made by burning different woods and animal products, each of which produced a different tone. The charcoal would be ground and then mixed with animal fat to make the pigment.

The 15th-century painter Cennino Cennini described how this pigment was made during the Renaissance in his famous handbook for artists: "...there is a black which is made from the tendrils of vines. And these tendrils need to be burned. And when they have been burned, throw some water onto them and put them out and then mull them in the same way as the other black. And this is a lean and black pigment and is one of the perfect pigments that we use."

Cennini also noted that "There is which is made from burnt almond shells or peaches and this is a perfect, fine black." Similar fine blacks were made by burning the pits of the , or . The powdered charcoal was then mixed with or the yellow of an egg to make a paint.

Different civilizations burned different plants to produce their charcoal pigments. The of Alaska used wood charcoal mixed with the blood of to paint masks and wooden objects. The Polynesians burned to produce their pigment.

Dyes[] Good-quality black were not known until the middle of the 14th century. The most common early dyes were made from bark, roots or fruits of different trees; usually the , , or certain trees. The blacks produced were often more gray, brown or bluish. The cloth had to be dyed several times to darken the color. One solution used by dyers was add to the dye some iron filings, rich in iron oxide, which gave a deeper black. Another was to first dye the fabric dark blue, and then to dye it black.

A much richer and deeper black dye was eventually found made from the or gall-nut. The gall-nut is a small round tumor which grows on oak and other varieties of trees. They range in size from 2–5 cm, and are caused by chemicals injected by the of certain kinds of in the family Cynipidae. The dye was very expensive; a great quantity of gall-nuts were needed for a very small amount of dye. The gall-nuts which made the best dye came from , eastern Europe, the near east and North Africa. Beginning in about the 14th century, dye from gall-nuts was used for clothes of the kings and princes of Europe.

Another important source of natural black dyes from the 17th century onwards was the , or , which also produced reddish and bluish dyes. It is a species of in the family, , that is native to southern and northern . The modern nation of grew from 17th century logwood logging camps.

Since the mid-19th century, synthetic black dyes have largely replaced natural dyes. One of the important synthetic blacks is , a mixture of synthetic black dyes (CI 50415, Solvent black 5) made by heating a mixture of , and aniline hydrochloride in the presence of a or . Its main industrial uses are as a colorant for lacquers and varnishes and in marker-pen inks.

Inks[] The first known inks were made by the Chinese, and date back to the 23rd century B.C. They used natural plant dyes and minerals such as ground with water and applied with an . Early Chinese inks similar to the modern have been found dating to about 256 BC at the end of the . They were produced from , usually produced by burning pine wood, mixed with . To make ink from an inkstick, the stick is continuously ground against an with a small quantity of water to produce a dark liquid which is then applied with an . Artists and calligraphists could vary the thickness of the resulting ink by reducing or increasing the intensity and time of ink grinding. These inks produced the delicate shading and subtle or dramatic effects of .

(or Indian ink in ) is a black once widely used for writing and printing and now more commonly used for , especially when inking and . The technique of making it probably came from China. India ink has been in use in since at least the 4th century BC, where it was called masi. In India, the black color of the ink came from , , and other substances.

The Ancient Romans had a black writing ink they called librarium. Its name came from the Latin word atrare, which meant to make something black. (This was the same root as the English word atrocious.) It was usually made, like India ink, from , although one variety, called atramentum elephantinum, was made by burning the ivory of elephants.

Gall-nuts were also used for making fine black writing ink. (also known as iron gall nut ink or oak gall ink) was a purple-black or brown-black made from salts and from gall nut. It was the standard writing and drawing in , from about the 12th century to the 19th century, and remained in use well into the 20th century.

Astronomy[] Why the night sky and space are black – Olbers' paradox[] The fact that is black is sometimes called . In theory, because the universe is full of stars, and is believed to be infinitely large, it would be expected that the light of an infinite number of stars would be enough to brilliantly light the whole universe all the time. However, the background color of outer space is black. This contradiction was first noted in 1823 by German astronomer , who posed the question of why the night sky was black.

The current accepted answer is that, although the universe is infinitely large, it is not infinitely old. It is thought to be about 13.8 billion years old, so we can only see objects as far away as the distance light can travel in 13.8 billion years. Light from stars farther away has not reached Earth, and cannot contribute to making the sky bright. Furthermore, as the universe is expanding, many stars are moving away from Earth. As they move, the wavelength of their light becomes longer, through the , and shifts toward red, or even becomes invisible. As a result of these two phenomena, there is not enough starlight to make space anything but black.

The daytime sky on Earth is blue because light from the Sun strikes molecules in Earth's atmosphere scattering light in all directions. Blue light is scattered more than other colors, and reaches the eye in greater quantities, making the daytime sky appear blue. This is known as .

The nighttime sky on Earth is black because the part of Earth experiencing night is facing away from the Sun, the light of the Sun is blocked by Earth itself, and there is no other bright nighttime source of light in the vicinity. Thus, there is not enough light to undergo Rayleigh scattering and make the sky blue. On the Moon, on the other hand, because there is no atmosphere to scatter the light, the sky is black both day and night. This phenomenon also holds true for other locations without an atmosphere.

Biology[] Culture[] In China, the color black is associated with water, one of the five fundamental elements believed to compose all things; and with winter, cold, and the direction north, usually symbolized by a black tortoise. It is also associated with disorder, including the positive disorder which leads to change and new life. When the first Emperor of China seized power from the , he changed the Imperial color from red to black, saying that black extinguished red. Only when the appeared in 206 BC was red restored as the imperial color.

The Chinese and Japanese character for black (kuro in Japanese), can, depending upon the context, also mean dark or evil.

In Japan, black is associated with mystery, the night, the unknown, the supernatural, the invisible and death. Combined with white, it can symbolize intuition. In 10th and 11th century Japan, it was believed that wearing black could bring misfortune. It was worn at court by those who wanted to set themselves apart from the established powers or who had renounced material possessions.

In Japan black can also symbolize experience, as opposed to white, which symbolizes naiveté. The black belt in martial arts symbolizes experience, while a white belt is worn by novices. Japanese men traditionally wear a black kimono with some white decoration on their wedding day.

In Indonesia black is associated with depth, the subterranean world, demons, disaster, and the left hand. When black is combined with white, however, it symbolizes harmony and equilibrium.

Political movements[] Anarchism is a political philosophy, most popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which holds that governments and capitalism are harmful and undesirable. The was usually either a black flag or a black letter A. More recently it is usually represented with a bisected red and black flag, to emphasise the movement's socialist roots in the . Anarchism was most popular in Spain, France, Italy, Ukraine and Argentina. There were also small but influential movements in the United States and Russia. In the latter, the movement initially allied itself with the Bolsheviks.

The Black Army was a collection of anarchist military units which fought in the , sometimes on the side of the Bolshevik , and sometimes for the opposing . It was officially known as the , and it was under the command of the famous anarchist .

Fascism. The (: camicie nere, 'CCNN) were groups in during the period immediately following and until the end of . The Blackshirts were officially known as the Voluntary Militia for National Security (Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, or MVSN).

Inspired by the black uniforms of the , Italy's elite storm troops of World War I, the Fascist Blackshirts were organized by as the military tool of his political movement. They used violence and intimidation against Mussolini's opponents. The emblem of the Italian fascists was a black flag with , an axe in a bundle of sticks, an ancient Roman symbol of authority. Mussolini came to power in 1922 through his with the blackshirts.

Black was also adopted by and the in Germany. Red, white and black were the colors of the flag of the German Empire from 1870 to 1918. In , Hitler explained that they were "revered colors expressive of our homage to the glorious past." Hitler also wrote that "the new flag ... should prove effective as a large poster" because "in hundreds of thousands of cases a really striking emblem may be the first cause of awakening interest in a movement." The black was meant to symbolize the race, which, according to the Nazis, "was always anti-Semitic and will always be anti-Semitic." Several designs by a number of different authors were considered, but the one adopted in the end was Hitler's personal design. Black became the color of the uniform of the , the Schutzstaffel or "defense corps", the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party, and was worn by SS officers from 1932 until the end of World War II.

The Nazis used a to symbolize anti-social elements. The symbol originates from , where every prisoner had to wear one of the on their jacket, the color of which categorized them according to "their kind." Many Black Triangle prisoners were either mentally disabled or mentally ill. The homeless were also included, as were alcoholics, the , the habitually "work-shy," prostitutes, draft dodgers and pacifists. More recently the black triangle has been adopted as a symbol in and by disabled activists.

Black shirts were also worn by the before World War II, and members of fascist movements in the Netherlands.

Patriotic resistance. The , composed of volunteer German students and academics fighting against in 1813, could not afford to make special uniforms and therefore adopted black, as the only color that could be used to dye their civilian clothing without the original color showing. In 1815 the students began to carry a red, black and gold flag, which they believed (incorrectly) had been the colors of the Holy Roman Empire (the imperial flag had actually been gold and black). In 1848, this banner became the flag of the . In 1866, unified Germany under its rule, and imposed the red, white and black of its own flag, which remained the colors of the German flag until the end of the Second World War. In 1949 the Federal Republic of Germany returned to the original flag and colors of the students and professors of 1815, which is the flag of Germany today.

Islamism. The (راية السوداء‎ rāyat al-sawdā', also known as راية العقاب‎ rāyat al-'uqāb " of the " or simply as ‎ al-rāya "the banner") is the historical flag flown by in , an symbol in (heralding the advent of the ), and a symbol used in and .

Flags[] Military[] Hussar from Husaren-Regiment Nr.5 (von Ruesch) in 1744 with the on the mirliton (ger. Flügelmütze).Black has been a traditional color of cavalry and armoured or mechanized troops. German armoured troops () traditionally wore black uniforms, and even in others, a is common. In Finland, black is the symbolic color for both armoured troops and combat engineers, and military units of these specialities have black flags and unit insignia.

The and the color black is also a symbol of special forces in many countries. Soviet and Russian special police and wear a black beret. A black beret is also worn by military police in the Canadian, Czech, Croatian, Portuguese, Spanish and Serbian armies.

The silver-on-black skull and crossbones symbol or and a black uniform were used by and , the German and the Nazi , and U.S. (crossed missiles), and continues in use with the Estonian .

Religion[] The of a church on Holy Saturday is adorned with black , as black is the liturgical color of and in the Lutheran Churches.In Christianity, the is often called the "prince of darkness." The term was used in 's poem , published in 1667, referring to , who is viewed as the embodiment of evil. It is an English translation of the Latin phrase princeps tenebrarum, which occurs in the , written in the fourth century, in the 11th-century Rhythmus de die mortis by , and in a sermon by from the 12th century. The phrase also occurs in by (c. 1606), Act III, Scene IV, l. 14: 'The prince of darkness is a gentleman."

Priests and pastors of the , and churches commonly wear black, as do of the , who consider it the color of humility and penitence.

Sports[] Idioms and expressions[] Namesake of the idiom "black sheep"Associations and symbolism[] Mourning[] In Europe and America, black is commonly associated with and bereavement, and usually worn at funerals and memorial services. In some traditional societies, for example in Greece and Italy, some widows wear black for the rest of their lives. In contrast, across much of Africa and parts of Asia like Vietnam, white is a color of mourning.

In Victorian England, the colors and fabrics of mourning were specified in an unofficial : "non-reflective black paramatta and crape for the first year of deepest mourning, followed by nine months of dullish black silk, heavily trimmed with crape, and then three months when crape was discarded. Paramatta was a fabric of combined silk and wool or cotton; crape was a harsh black silk fabric with a crimped appearance produced by heat. Widows were allowed to change into the colors of half-mourning, such as gray and lavender, black and white, for the final six months."

A "black day" (or week or month) usually refers to tragic date. The marked days with white stones and nefasti days with black. The term is often used to remember massacres. Black months include the , when large numbers of Palestinians were killed, and in , the killing of members of the population by the government.

In the financial world, the term often refers to a dramatic drop in the stock market. For example, the , the on October 29, 1929, which marked the start of the , is nicknamed Black Tuesday, and was preceded by Black Thursday, a downturn on October 24 the previous week.

Darkness and evil[] In western popular culture, black has long been associated with and . It is the traditional color of and .

In the , the last book in the of the Bible, the are supposed to announce the before the . The horseman representing famine rides a black horse. The of literature and films, such as of the novel, dressed in black, and could only move at night. The in the 1939 film became the archetype of witches for generations of children. Whereas witches and sorcerers inspired real fear in the 17th century, in the 21st century children and adults dressed as witches for Halloween parties and parades.

Power, authority and solemnity[] Black is frequently used as a color of power, law and authority. In many countries judges and magistrates wear black robes. That custom began in Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries. Jurists, magistrates and certain other court officials in France began to wear long black robes during the reign of (1285–1314), and in England from the time of (1271–1307). The custom spread to the cities of Italy at about the same time, between 1300 and 1320. The robes of judges resembled those worn by the clergy, and represented the law and authority of the King, while those of the clergy represented the law of God and authority of the church.

Until the 20th century most police uniforms were black, until they were largely replaced by a less menacing blue in France, the U.S. and other countries. In the United States, police cars are frequently . The units of the in Spain are known as ("blacks") after their uniform.

Black today is the most common color for limousines and the official cars of government officials.

Black formal attire is still worn at many solemn occasions or ceremonies, from graduations to formal balls. Graduation gowns are copied from the gowns worn by university professors in the Middle Ages, which in turn were copied from the robes worn by judges and priests, who often taught at the early universities. The hat worn by graduates is adapted from a square cap called a worn by Medieval professors and clerics

Functionality[] In the 19th and 20th centuries, many machines and devices, large and small, were painted black, to stress their functionality. These included telephones, sewing machines, steamships, railroad locomotives, and automobiles. The , the first mass-produced car, was available only in black from 1914 to 1926. Of means of transportation, only airplanes were rarely ever painted black.

Black house paint is becoming more popular with reporting that the color, Tricorn Black, was the 6th most popular exterior house paint color in Canada and the 12th most popular paint in the United States in 2018.

Ethnography[] Further information: , , , , and Black is also commonly used as a racial description in the , since ethnicity was first measured in the 2001 census. The 2011 British census asked residents to describe themselves, and categories offered included Black, African, Caribbean, or Black British. Other possible categories were African British, African Scottish, Caribbean British and Caribbean Scottish. Of the total UK population in 2001, 1.0 percent identified themselves as Black Caribbean, 0.8 percent as Black African, and 0.2 percent as Black (others).

In , census respondents can identify themselves as Black. In the 2006 census, 2.5 percent of the population identified themselves as black.

In , the term black is not used in the census. In the 2006 census, 2.3 percent of Australians identified themselves as and/or Islanders.

In , the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) asks people to identify themselves as branco (white), pardo (brown), preto (black), or amarelo (yellow). In 2008 6.8 percent of the population identified themselves as "preto".

Opposite of white[] Conspiracy[] Black is commonly associated with .

Elegant fashion[] Black is the color most commonly associated with elegance in Europe and the United States, followed by silver, gold, and white.

Black first became a fashionable color for men in Europe in the 17th century, in the courts of Italy and Spain. (See history above.) In the 19th century, it was the fashion for men both in business and for evening wear, in the form of a black coat whose tails came down the knees. In the evening it was the custom of the men to leave the women after dinner to go to a special smoking room to enjoy cigars or cigarettes. This meant that their tailcoats eventually smelled of tobacco. According to the legend, in 1865 , then the Prince of Wales, had his tailor make a special short . The smoking jacket then evolved into the dinner jacket. Again according to legend, the first Americans to wear the jacket were members of the Tuxedo Club in New York State. Thereafter the jacket became known as a in the U.S. The term "smoking" is still used today in Russia and other countries.The tuxedo was always black until the 1930s, when the began to wear a tuxedo that was a very dark midnight blue. He did so because a black tuxedo looked greenish in artificial light, while a dark blue tuxedo looked blacker than black itself.

For women's fashion, the defining moment was the invention of the by in 1926. (See history.) Thereafter, a long black gown was used for formal occasions, while the simple black dress could be used for everything else. The designer , explaining why black was so popular, said: "Black is the color that goes with everything. If you're wearing black, you're on sure ground." Skirts have gone up and down and fashions have changed, but the black dress has not lost its position as the essential element of a woman's wardrobe. The fashion designer said, "elegance is a combination of distinction, naturalness, care and simplicity," and black exemplified elegance.

The expression "X is the new black" is a reference to the latest trend or fad that is considered a wardrobe basic for the duration of the trend, on the basis that black is always fashionable. The phrase has taken on a life of its own and has become a .

Many performers of both popular and , including French singers and , and violinist have traditionally worn black on stage during performances. A black costume was usually chosen as part of their image or stage persona, or because it did not distract from the music, or sometimes for a political reason. Country-western singer always wore black on stage. In 1971, Cash wrote the song "" to explain why he dressed in that color: "We're doing mighty fine I do suppose / In our streak of lightning cars and fancy clothes / But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back / Up front there ought to be a man in black."

See also[] Wikimedia Commons has media related to .Wikiquote has quotations related to: References[] Notes and citations[] Bibliography[] Listen to this article ()Menu0:00Note: this file is approximately 5.9 megabytes.

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\ ˈblak \ Definition of black (Entry 1 of 6)

1 : of the color black (see ) a black sweater a black dog as black as coal 2 or Black a : of or relating to any of various population groups having dark of the skin black Americans b : of or relating to people or their culture black literature a black college Black pride Black studies 3 : dressed in black (see ) playing for the black team 4 : , hands black with grime 5a : 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 6a old-fashioned + literary : thoroughly sinister or evil : 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 : , the play was a black intrigue 7 : connected with or invoking the supernatural and especially the devil black magic the black arts 8a : very sad, gloomy, or black despair b : marked by the occurrence of disaster black Friday 9a : characterized by hostility or angry discontent : 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 12a 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 black humor 14 : of or relating to intelligence operations black government programs 15 : having a very deep or low register (see ) a bass with a black voice black

Definition of black(Entry 2 of 6)

1 : a pigment or dye of the color black : a black pigment or dye especially : one consisting largely of carbon 2 : the achromatic (see ) 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] 4a : a person belonging to any of various population groups having dark pigmentation of the skin b : Note:Use of the noun black in the singular to refer to a person is considered offensive. The plural form blacks is commonly used to refer to black people as a group or community.

a position supported by both blacks and whites blacks and other people of color 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 theoperating in the black — compare black

blacked; blacking; blacks Definition of black(Entry 3 of 6)

: to become black (see )

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 Black

biographical name (1) \ ˈblak \ Definition of Black(Entry 4 of 6)

Hugo LaFayette 1886–1971 American jurist and politician Black

biographical name (2) Definition of Black(Entry 5 of 6)

Sir James Whyte 1924–2010 British pharmacologist Black

geographical name Definition of Black(Entry 6 of 6)

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

Other Words from black Adjective

blackish \ ˈbla-kish \ adjective blackly adverb blackness noun Synonyms & Antonyms for black Synonyms: Adjective

Synonyms: Noun

Antonyms: Adjective

Antonyms: Noun

Examples of black in a Sentence Adjective a little black dress blends into the night very well Noun The wall was painted in black. See More Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective The fresh violence came despite Friday’s charges against Derek Chauvin, the police officer suspected in the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man being detained on suspicion of passing a counterfeit bill. — The death of George Floyd, a black man, who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck during an arrest on Monday, hits close to home for Casey, who was head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2005–07. — These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'black.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. .

See More First Known Use of black Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at

Verb

13th century, in the meaning defined at

History and Etymology for black Adjective, Noun, and Verb

Middle English blak, from Old English blæc; akin to Old High German blah black, and probably to Latin flagrare to burn, Greek phlegein

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

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Cite this Entry

“Black.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/black. Accessed 2 Jun. 2020.

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More Definitions for black

black

Financial Definition of black What It Is

Black is slang for . Profit, also called , is the amount remaining after all costs, , interest, , and other expenses have been deducted from total . Profit is also referred to as the bottom line, net profit, or net earnings. The formula for profit is:

Total Sales - Total Expenses = Profit

Note that preferred are typically included in the traditional net income calculation, but dividends are not.

How It Works

Here is some information about Company XYZ for last year:

Using the formula and the information above, we can calculate that Company XYZ's profit was:

$1,000,000 - $500,000 - $300,000 - $100,000 - $5,000 + $1,000 - $10,000 - $10,000 = $76,000

This means that Company XYZ made $76,000 of last . It was “in the black.”

Why It Matters

Philosophically speaking, being in the black is what motivates industry, entrepreneurship, and innovation. It is the very thing that enables people to feed themselves, clothe their families, create jobs, and set aside for the future. It is not a vice, but rather an incentive to dream, take risks, and try harder. As , the founder of modern , it, "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we can expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.”

In the retail industry, companies often don’t become profitable until the fourth quarter, when Christmas shopping begins. This is the source of the term “Black Friday.”

Source:

black

English Language Learners Definition of black (Entry 1 of 3)

: having the very dark color of coal or the night sky : very dark because there is no light : of or relating to a race of people who have dark skin and who come originally from Africa black

English Language Learners Definition of black(Entry 2 of 3)

: the dark color of coal or the night sky : black clothing : a person belonging to a race of people who have dark skin : a black person black

English Language Learners Definition of black(Entry 3 of 3)

old-fashioned + literary : to make (something) black British : to refuse to work for or with (a business, employer, etc.) or to buy (goods, services, etc.)

black

\ ˈblak \ blacker; blackest Kids Definition of black (Entry 1 of 3)

1 : of the color of coal : colored black 2 : very dark a black night 3 often capitalized : of or relating to any peoples having dark skin and especially any of the original peoples of Africa south of the Sahara 4 : of or relating to Americans having ancestors from Africa south of the Sahara 5 : a black deed 6 : very sad or gloomy in a black mood 7 : a black look Other Words from black

blackish adjective blackness noun black

Kids Definition of black(Entry 2 of 3)

1 : the color of coal : the opposite of white 2 : black clothing He is dressed in black. 3 : a person belonging to a race of people having dark skin 4 : an American having black African ancestors : 5 : total or near total darkness the black of night 6 : the condition of making a profit The company is in the black. black

blacked; blacking Kids Definition of black(Entry 3 of 3)

: black out : to lose consciousness or the ability to see for a short time Keep scrolling for more

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[ blak ]SHOW IPA/ blæk /PHONETIC RESPELLING ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

adjective, black·er, black·est. being a color that lacks hue and brightness and absorbs light without reflecting any of the rays composing it: They labeled the boxes with a black permanent marker. (sometimes initial capital letter) See Usage note at the current entry.characterized by absence of light; enveloped in darkness: a black night.soiled or stained with dirt: That shirt was black within an hour.; ; : a black outlook.deliberately harmful; : a black lie.boding ill; sullen or hostile; : black words; black looks.(of coffee or tea) without milk or cream: I take my coffee black.without any moral quality or goodness; ; : His black heart has concocted yet another black deed.indicating censure, disgrace, or liability to punishment: a black mark on one's record.marked by disaster or misfortune: black areas of drought; Black Friday.wearing black or dark clothing or armor: the black prince.based on the grotesque, morbid, or unpleasant aspects of life: black comedy; black humor.(of a check mark, flag, etc.) done or written in black to indicate, as on a list, that which is undesirable, substandard, potentially dangerous, etc.: Pilots put a black flag next to the ten most dangerous airports.illegal or underground: The black economy pays no taxes.showing a profit; not showing any losses: the first black quarter in two years.deliberately false or intentionally misleading: black propaganda. British. boycotted, as certain goods or products by a trade union.(of steel) in the form in which it comes from the rolling mill or forge; unfinished.SEE MORESEE LESSnoun the color at one extreme end of the scale of grays, opposite to white, absorbing all light incident upon it.Compare .(sometimes initial capital letter) Often Offensive. (Use as a noun in reference to a person, e.g. “a Black,” is often considered offensive) See Usage note at the current entry.black clothing, especially as a sign of mourning: He wore black at the funeral. Chess, Checkers. the dark-colored men or pieces or squares.black pigment: lamp black. Slang. .a horse or other animal that is entirely black.SEE MORESEE LESSverb (used with object) to make black; put black on; . British. to boycott or ban.to polish (shoes, boots, etc.) with .SEE MORESEE LESSverb (used without object) to become black; take on a black color; blacken.adverb (of coffee or tea) served without milk or cream.Verb Phrases black out, SEE MORE DEFINITIONSSEE FEWER DEFINITIONSQUIZZES PRACTICE SOME ESCAPISM WITH THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ! We salute you if you remember all the doovers from Word of the Day between May 25 and May 31!Question 1 of 7saluteIdioms for black SEE MORE IDIOMSSEE FEWER IDIOMSOrigin of black First recorded before 900; Middle English blak, Old English blæc; cognate with Old High German blah-; akin to Old Norse blakkr “black,” blek “ink”SYNONYMS FOR black 1 , ; , ; , . 4 , . 5 , , , , , . 7 , . 9 , , , , , ; , ; , , , .ANTONYMS FOR black 1 . 4 . 5 , .usage note for black 2, 21. Black is sometimes capitalized when used in reference to people. It is considered a sign of respect to capitalize the initial letter (Black) in this context, which is especially important in the language of identity. The case for capitalizing Black is supported by the fact that the names of many other ethnic groups and nationalities use initial capital letters, e.g. Hispanic. Black as an adjective referring to a person or people is unlikely to cause negative reactions. As a noun, however, it does often offend. The use of the plural noun without an article is somewhat more accepted (home ownership among Blacks ); however, the plural noun with an article is more likely to offend (political issues affecting the Blacks ), and the singular noun is always strongly dispreferred (the small business proprietor is a Black ). Use the adjective instead: Black homeowners, Black voters, a Black business proprietor. The 1990s saw Black leaders like Jesse Jackson promote African American, which he said had “cultural integrity,” in that it refers to ethnic origins rather than to skin color. While African American has not replaced Black in common parlance, it works both as a noun and as an adjective. In the United States, there is a complex social history for words that name or describe the dark-skinned peoples of sub-Saharan Africa and their descendants. A term that was once acceptable may now be offensive, and one that was once offensive may now be acceptable. Colored, for example, first used in colonial North America, was an appropriate referential term until the 1920s, when it was supplanted by Negro. Now colored is perceived not only as old-fashioned but offensive. It survives primarily in the name of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), an organization formed when the word was not considered derogatory. Describing someone as a person of color, however, is not usually offensive. That term, an inclusive one that can refer to anyone who is not white, is frequently used by members of the Black community. Using “of color” can emphasize commonalities in nonwhite lives. However, when referring to a group of people who are all Black it is more appropriate to be specific. Failure to explicitly reference blackness when it is exclusively appropriate, generalizing “Black” to “of color,” can be a form of erasure. Negro remained the overwhelming term of choice until the mid-1960s. That decade saw a burgeoning civil rights movement, which furthered a sense that Negro was contaminated by its long association with discrimination as well as its closeness to the disparaging and deeply offensive . The emergence of the Black Power movement fostered the emergence of Black as a primary descriptive term, as in “Black pride.” By the mid-1970s Black had become common within and outside the Black community. But Negro has not entirely disappeared. It remains in the names of such organizations as the United Negro College Fund, people still refer to Negro spirituals, and some older Black people continue to identify with the term they have known since childhood. So Negro , while not offensive in established or historical contexts, is now looked upon in contemporary speech and writing as not only antiquated but highly likely to offend. This shifting from term to term has not been smooth or linear, and periods of change like the late 1960s were often marked by confusion as to which term was appropriate. The 1967 groundbreaking film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, about a young interracial couple hoping that both sets of parents will accept their plans to marry, reflects the abundance of terminological choices available at the time. Various characters talk of a “colored girl,” a “colored man,” a “Negro,” and “Black people.” The N-word appears once, used disparagingly by one Black character to another. African American had not yet made it into the mix.historical usage of black See .OTHER WORDS FROM black black·ish, adjectiveblack·ish·ly, adverbblack·ish·ness, nounnon·black, adjective, nounun·blacked, adjectivewell-blacked, adjective SEE MORE RELATED FORMSSEE FEWER RELATED FORMSWords nearby black , , , , , black, , , , , Definition for black (2 of 2) Black[ blak ]SHOW IPA/ blæk /PHONETIC RESPELLING ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

noun Hugo Lafayette,1886–1971, U.S. political official: associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 1937–71. (Sir) James Whyte [hwahyt, wahyt] /ʰwaɪt, waɪt/,1924–2010, English pharmacologist: Nobel prize 1988. Joseph,1728–99, Scottish physician and chemist. Shirley Temple. .Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020Content related to black Words related to black , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Example sentences from the Web for black SEE MORE EXAMPLESSEE FEWER EXAMPLES British Dictionary definitions for black (1 of 3) black/ (blæk) / ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

adjective of the colour of jet or carbon black, having no hue due to the absorption of all or nearly all incident lightCompare without light; completely darkwithout hope or alleviation; gloomythe future looked blackvery dirty or soiledblack factory chimneysangry or resentfulshe gave him black looks(of a play or other work) dealing with the unpleasant realities of life, esp in a pessimistic or macabre mannerblack comedy(of coffee or tea) without milk or creamcausing, resulting from, or showing great misfortuneblack areas of unemploymentcausing or deserving dishonour or censurea black crime(of the face) purple, as from suffocationBritish (of goods, jobs, works, etc) being subject to boycott by trade unionists, esp in support of industrial action elsewhereSEE MORESEE LESSnoun a black coloura dye or pigment of or producing this colourblack clothing, worn esp as a sign of mourningchess draughts complete darknessthe black of the nighta black ball in snooker, etc(in roulette and other gambling games) one of two colours on which players may place even bets, the other being redin the black in credit or without debtarchery a black ring on a target, between the outer and the blue, scoring three pointsSEE MORESEE LESSverb another word for (tr) to polish (shoes, etc) with blacking(tr) to bruise so as to make blackhe blacked her eye(tr) British, Australian and NZ (of trade unionists) to organize a boycott of (specified goods, jobs, work, etc), esp in support of industrial action elsewhereSEE MORESEE LESSSee also Derived forms of black blackish, adjectiveblackishly, adverbblackly, adverbblackness, nounWord Origin for black Old English blæc; related to Old Saxon blak ink, Old High German blakra to blinkBritish Dictionary definitions for black (2 of 3) Black1/ (blæk) / ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

noun a member of a human population having dark pigmentation of the skinadjective of or relating to a Black person or Black peoplea Black neighbourhoodusage for Black Talking about a Black or Blacks is considered offensive and it is better to talk about a Black person, Black peopleBritish Dictionary definitions for black (3 of 3) Black2/ (blæk) / ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

noun Sir James (Whyte). 1924–2010, British biochemist. He discovered beta-blockers and drugs for peptic ulcers: Nobel prize for physiology or medicine 1988Joseph . 1728–99, Scottish physician and chemist, noted for his pioneering work on carbon dioxide and heatCollins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012Medical definitions for black Black[ blăk ]Sir James Whyte Born 1924 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

British pharmacologist. He shared a 1988 Nobel Prize for developing drugs to treat heart disease and stomach and duodenal ulcers. The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.Scientific definitions for black (1 of 2) Black[ blăk ]Sir James Whyte 1924-2010 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

British pharmacologist who discovered the first beta-blocker, which led to the development of safer and more effective drugs to treat high blood pressure and heart disease. Black also developed a blocker for gastric acid production that revolutionized the treatment of stomach ulcers. He shared with Gertrude Elion and George Hitchings the 1988 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine. Scientific definitions for black (2 of 2) BlackJoseph 1728-1799 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

British chemist who in 1756 discovered carbon dioxide, which he called fixed air. In addition to further studies of carbon dioxide, Black formulated the concepts of latent heat and heat capacity.The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.Idioms and Phrases with black black ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In addition to the idioms beginning with black

also see:

SEE MORE ORIGINSSEE FEWER ORIGINSThe American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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