Idioms for black
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
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 N-word. 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.
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 N-word. 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
urban.
OTHER WORDS FROM black
Words nearby black
Definition for black (2 of 2)
Black
[ blak ]
/ blæk /
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.
Temple, Shirley.
Example sentences from the Web for black
British Dictionary definitions for black (1 of 3)
black
/ (blæk) /
adjective
noun
verb
See also
blackout
Derived forms of black
blackish, adjective blackishly, adverb blackly, adverb blackness, nounWord Origin for black
Old English
blæc; related to Old Saxon
blak ink, Old High German
blakra to blink
British Dictionary definitions for black (2 of 3)
Black
1
/ (blæk) /
noun
a member of a human population having dark pigmentation of the skin
adjective
of or relating to a Black person or Black people
a Black neighbourhood
usage for Black
Talking about
a Black or
Blacks is considered offensive and it is better to talk about
a Black person,
Black people
British Dictionary definitions for black (3 of 3)
Black
2
/ (blæk) /
noun
Sir James (Whyte). 1924–2010, British biochemist. He discovered beta-blockers and drugs for peptic ulcers: Nobel prize for physiology or medicine 1988
Joseph . 1728–99, Scottish physician and chemist, noted for his pioneering work on carbon dioxide and heat
Medical definitions for black
Black
[ blăk ]
British pharmacologist. He shared a 1988 Nobel Prize for developing drugs to treat heart disease and stomach and duodenal ulcers.
Scientific definitions for black (1 of 2)
Black
[ blăk ]
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)
Black
Joseph 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.
Idioms and Phrases with black
black