Black is the color of coal, ebony, and the night sky. It is the very darkest color, the result of the absence of or complete absorption of light. It is the opposite of white.
In the Western World, it is the color most commonly associated with mourning, the end, secrets, magic, power, violence, evil, and elegance.
Read more about Black: Variations of Black, Etymology and Language, Political Movements, Selected Flags Containing Black, Religion, Sports, Black in Other Cultures, Idioms and Expressions
Famous quotes containing the word black:
“America today is capable of terrific intolerance about smoking, or toxic waste that threatens trout. But only a deeply confused society is more concerned about protecting lungs than minds, trout than black women.”
—Garry Wills (b. 1934)
“Winter lies too long in country towns; hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen. On the farm the weather was the great fact, and men’s affairs went on underneath it, as the streams creep under the ice. But in Black Hawk the scene of human life was spread out shrunken and pinched, frozen down to the bare stalk.”
—Willa Cather (1873–1947)
“A black sun has appeared in the sky of my motherland.”
—Wuer Kaixi, Chinese student leader. Quoted in Independent (London, June 29, 1989)