Paterson J. A Dictionary of Colour - A Lexicon of the Language of Colour (анг. яз.)
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c bisque
A pale pinkish or yellowish brown colour. First recorded as a colour term in 1922.
c Bisque
An X11 Color Set colour. It has hex code #FFE4C4.
c bistre
A dark brown colour; the brown pigment or wash used in pen and ink drawings
made from boiling the soot of wood, particularly, beechwood and used by
Renaissance painters. Also ‘bistre brown’. Superseded by sepia.
n bitumen
Black asphaltum; an unstable brown pigment often the cause of cracking in
paintings.
n bixin
A peach food colouring agent (E160 (b)).
a bizarre
Striped or variegated especially as regards flowers.
vb black; to
To boycott the sale or distribution of certain goods or services.
c black
Having the colour of coal; the blackest looking object will be one which reflects
the least light; the absence of any light; dark; enveloped in darkness; lacking in
hue; the opposite of white.The colour of mourning. White, however, is the colour
of mourning in China, India and parts of the Far East. A symbol of penitence;
associated in medieval times with the Zodiac signs Capricorn and Aquarius and
with the planet Saturn. The colour of the ring second from the outer ring in archery.
Technically, black is not a colour, but the absence of all colour. Although black
traditionally represents death, evil and gloom it also represents good luck in English
folklore – chimney-sweeps, black cats and coal are all supposed to bring good
fortune.
n black
A stain or polish to blacken leather boots and shoes; a black pigment.
44 A DICTIONARY OF COLOUR
a black
Dirty or unclean; having a deadly, nefarious or wicked purpose; illegal; evil;
melancholy; pessimistic, gloomy or dismal.
c Black
One of the X11 Color Set colours. It has hex code #000000.
n Black
Pertaining to those of African or Asian origin – see coloured.
n Blackacre
A convenient shorthand used by lawyers for a plot of land so as to be able to
distinguish it from another called ‘Whiteacre’.
n black-act
The Act of Parliament which once made it an offence to black one’s face to go
poaching.
n Black and Tans
The armed force fighting the Sinn Fein in the 1920’s; so called by reason of the
colours of their uniform.
n blackamoor
From a ‘black Moor’; an archaic term of a person with a dark skin.
n black and white
Not in colour; in reference to the distinction between non-colour television
programmes or photographs and those supported by colour; descriptive of a
regimen based on two extremes with no middle course. Slang for a ‘police car’.
n black arts, the
The practice of witch-craft.
vb blackball; to
To vote against an applicant or candidate, for example, for club membership; to
ostracize. The phrase originates from the system of voting in secret where each
voter has a black and a white ball either of which he may place in the voting box
– the black ball signifying a negative vote.
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n black beauty
A black horse.
n black belt
One of many coloured belts indicating the level of proficiency in the martial arts
attained by the wearer. Colours differ from sport to sport and country to country.
In Japan and the USA, for example, the first six student grades in Judo are
represented by the white belt and the brown belt. In other countries the first six
grades follow the order: white, yellow, orange, green, blue, and brown. Thereafter
the sequence is black, black or red and white and then red.
c blackberry
The colour of the dark purple fruit of the Rubus family.
n black bile
See melancholy.
c black black
The colour black when worn to indicate mourning; grieving black. A visit to the
Staffordshire County Museum at Shugborough Hall (near Stafford) has revealed
the rigorous colour rules for mourning which was recommended in the last quarter
of the 19th century. A widow was to mourn for two and a half years wearing
bombasine black for the first year and a day with heavy black crepe; she could
wear less crepe in the next 9 months; black silk and jet jewellery in the next 3
months and grey or mauve in the last 6 months of mourning. See black tie.
n blackboard
A slate or board used in schools for writing on with chalks.
n blackboard jungle
A school of ill-disciplined pupils.
n black boding
Portending bad news.
n black box
The flight recorder used in all commercial aircraft to record
instrument readings and flight crew conversations in order
to assist the investigation of crashes. It is, in fact, usually orange
in colour to allow for easier detection.
adjective a
adverb adv
a colour c
noun n
prefix pr
suffix su
verb vb
46 A DICTIONARY OF COLOUR
n black bread
Dark bread often made from sour dough; bread made from rye flour. See also
brown bread.
n black-browed
Scowling or frowning.
n black cab
The ubiquitous London taxicab although many now carry advertisements and
come in many different colours.
n black cap
The black head covering which was donned by judges prior to passing a sentence
of death.
n black cards, the
Those 26 playing cards in the deck consisting of spades and clubs. The division
of cards into spades, clubs and the red, diamonds and hearts originated in France
around 1480.
n black cats
Black cats are regarded in European folklore as bringing bad luck carrying
associations with the devil and witchcraft whereas in African-American tradition
the black cat brings good luck. According to recent research black or dark-haired
cats are six times more likely to cause humans to suffer allergies than cats with
lighter hair.
n black-cattle
Bulls, oxen and cows.
a black-clad
Dressed in black. See black black.
n black coffee
Coffee without milk; Diner to waiter: ‘I’ll have coffee without milk please’.Waiter
in reply ‘I’m sorry we don’t have any milk. Will you have coffee without cream?’.
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n black comedy
A form of drama often displaying cynicism and disillusionment and dealing with
death, disease or some other macabre or calamitous situation in a way which
generates painful amusement.
n Black Country, the
The parts of Warwickshire and Staffordshire which used to be involved in heavy
industry one particular by-product of which was soot and grime.
c blackcurrant
The colour of the round black berry of the saxifrage family.
n Black Death, the
The Bubonic Plague which it is estimated killed a quarter of the population of
Europe in the 14th century. It was not called the Black Death until 1823.
n black diamond
Slang for truffles. Also a type of Brazilian diamond. See diamond colours.
n black dwarf
A small dense star resulting from a cooled white dwarf.
n black economy
In reference to earnings which are not disclosed to the revenue authorities or other
appropriate Government authority; trading which is unlawful or underground.
a blacked
Coloured black.
vb blacken; to
To make black; to become black.
n black eye
The discolouration or bruising to the eye caused by a blow. Since the skin around
the eye is loose the bruising is often darker than to other parts of the body. See
Phrases.
n black fast
A fast involving abstinence from both eggs and milk.
48 A DICTIONARY OF COLOUR
n black flag
A flag made of black cloth indicating some deadly or nefarious purpose of the
bearer, for example, pirates and the Jolly Roger and the Royal Navy flag indicating
execution. Also in motor racing the flag used to indicate a dangerous situation
requiring a driver to stop.
n Black Friday
Used in reference to a variety of calamitous events through history occurring on
a Friday and perhaps originating from the time Good Friday was referred to in
Britain as ‘Black Friday’ because the clergy wore black. There has been a series
of Black Fridays in US stock market history. See also Black Monday and Blue
Monday. Apparently, the rest of the week portends less risk of disaster although
the ‘Black Tuesday’ of 29th October 1929 was the worst day of the 1929 Wall Street
crash, the fall on Wednesday 23rd October 1929 referred to as ‘Black Wednesday’
was significant and the stock market panics in the US on Thursday 9th May 1901
and Thursday 24th October 1929 are each referred to as being a ‘Black Thursday’.
Wednesday 16th September 1992, the date when the Conservative government
in the UK ignominiously pulled out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism
or ERM, is also referred to as ‘Black Wednesday’. The term ‘Black Saturday’ has
also been coined.
c black glamma
A rich dark black colour as applied to the fur of the mink.
n black gold
Colloquial term for oil or petroleum.
n blackguard
A scoundrel; a vicious contemptible person; originally a shoe black.
n black hats
A term used to describe those Chasidim or ultra religious Jews who wear wide-
brimmed black hats. ‘Black Jews’ is a term given to the Falashas, the Jews of
Ethiopia most of whom now live in Israel.
n blackhead
A mass of fatty substance protruding from the skin having a black tip – the
blackness resulting from a change in pigmentation caused by exposure to sunlight.
It is a feature of types of acne.
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a black hearted
Evil or malevolent.
n black hole
A singularity in space having a massive gravitational pull from which nothing
can escape and resulting from the collapse of a huge star at the end of its life.
n black hole of Calcutta
A prison in Calcutta in which 123 British prisoners were alleged to have suffocated
in 1756; hence any wretched place.
n black ice
A layer of ice not immediately apparent to the traveller.
n blackjack
A card game also called pontoon, vingt-et-un and twenty-one. ‘Pontoon’ is possibly
a corruption of ‘vingt-et-un’ owing to the combination of mis-pronouncing the
French term as ‘vontoon’ and confusing it with the word ‘pontoon’ – a bridge.
n Black Japan
A heat-resistant black paint or varnish made from asphaltum and oil.
n black lead
Graphite.
n black-leg
Someone who is prepared to work for an employer in defiance of other employees
who are on strike.
n black-letter
An old heavy typeface with ornate angular letters also known
as Gothic or Old English. A ‘black letter day ‘ is an unlucky
day such as Friday the 13th of any month. The Romans
indicated lucky days in their calendars in white while unlucky
ones (there were apparently 24) appeared in black and were
called dies mali from which the word ‘dismal’ originates.This
idea was later extended by designating religious feast-days
in the Church calendar in red thus giving rise to the red-letter
day. ‘Black-letter law’ refers to long established legal rules and
adjective a
adverb adv
a colour c
noun n
prefix pr
suffix su
verb vb
50 A DICTIONARY OF COLOUR
by extension to laws as they are strictly (or literally) construed. In adopting a ‘black-
letter’ approach a lawyer is sometimes regarded as being concerned simply with
what the law is rather than with WHY the law is what it is.
n black level picture
The absence of any illumination on the monitor or display unit.
n black light
A means of communicating between ships used in WW2. It employed infrared
thus avoiding detection by the enemy.
n blacklist
A list of persons compiled with the purpose of inhibiting their ability to obtain
employment, membership of a particular organization or some other advancement.
adv blackly
In a dark or gloomy manner; also used as an adjective as in ‘it is a blackly comic
tour de force’ (jacket of ‘Lullaby’ by Chuck Palahniuk (my son’s favourite author)).
n black magic
Sorcery. Derived from the Latin necromantia – the revelation of the future by
reference to the dead. This, by association, was transformed into nigromantia
and, in turn, translated into ‘black magic’ although necromantia has no connection
with ‘black’.
n blackmail
Unlawful conduct involving the making of threats and the use of intimidation to
exact money or other value. The word originated in Scotland – ‘black’ being derived
from the Gaelic ‘blathaich’ meaning to ‘protect’ and ‘mail’ in Scotland meaning
‘rent’ or a ‘tribute’ – hence a tax for protection. The extortion of grain or cattle
came to be referred to as ‘black mail’ in contrast to ‘white mail’ which involved
the exaction of silver. In Devon and Cornwall until 1838 the dues of eight pence
a year paid by tin mines to the Duke of Cornwall in silver was referred to as ‘white
rent’. In this way the word ‘blackmail’ became associated with hue although its
etymology has nothing to do with colour.
n Black Maria
A card game also known as ‘Hearts’; a police or prison van.
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n black market
An illicit or underground market in goods; hence ‘black market goods’.
n Black Monday
Used in reference to various disastrous events such as the great Stock Market
crash of 19th October 1987 beginning in New York and spreading to London,
Tokyo and the rest of the world. There are many earlier so-called Black Mondays.
See Blue Monday and Black Friday.
n black money
Money which is not declared to the revenue authorities or which is a result of
the black economy.
n blackness
The state of being black or without light.
n blackout
A temporary loss of consciousness as a result of the brain being suddenly deprived
of blood supply; a situation such as an air-raid where all lighting is to be extinguished.
A temporary loss of electrical power as contrasted with a brown-out.
n black pepper
The condiment made from grinding the berries and black husks of the pepper
plant.
n black pieces
The black pieces in chess, draughts, backgammon, go and other games. The
pieces in these games are traditionally black and white although draughts’ pieces
are sometimes red and white.
n black PN
A black food additive (E151).
n black pod disease
A fungus disease affecting cacao trees and threatening the production of chocolate.
n black power
A slogan of the black civil rights movement.
52 A DICTIONARY OF COLOUR
n black pudding
A black sausage made with blood and pork fat.
n Black Rod
A senior usher of the House of Lords so called because of the rod carried on
ceremonial occasions. See also Silver Stick.
n Black Sabbath
The heavy metal rock group. There are, of course, many groups and organizations
with a ‘Black’ appellation including the Black Monks (an order of Benedictine
monks wearing a black habit), the Black Panthers (members of a US militant
organization in the 1960’s), and the Blackshirts (particularly the Italian fascists
of the 1930’s and 1940’s).
n Black Sea
The Sea which is bordered by Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Rumania and
Bulgaria.
n black sheep
See Phrases.
n blackshirt
A member of a fascist organization, for example, the Italian fascists of the Second
World War.
n blacksmith
A person who works in iron usually with the aid of an anvil and a furnace. See
whitesmith.
n black smokers
A colloquial term for the hydrothermal vents releasing gushes of billowing black
smoke from the seabed.
n black spot
A location at which traffic accidents frequently occur or which is notorious for
undesirable goings-on. A term considered by the Sussex police force in 1998 to
be politically incorrect.