The word "black" refers to the darkest color we can see. You might think of a black dress or a black cat.
When people talk about something being black, it usually means it doesn't reflect any light and has no color at all - just darkness. We say that our clothes are black if they're dark enough to hide stains easily, like a black shirt or black pants. If you see a picture of a starry night sky, the areas between the stars might look black because there's no light coming from them. Some people even dye their hair black to make it very dark and shiny. In music and art, we sometimes use the term "black note" or "black key" to refer to specific sounds or colors that are created by pressing a certain key on an instrument or typing on a keyboard.
How common is "black"?
Word black is considered common in modern English. It has a balanced usage among all categories: speech, fiction, newspapers and academic texts.
Definitions
noun
The colour/color perceived in the absence of light, but also when no light is reflected, but rather absorbed.
A black dye or pigment.
A pen, pencil, crayon, etc., made of black pigment.
(in the plural) Black cloth hung up at funerals.
(sometimes capitalised) A person of African, Aborigine, or Maori descent; a dark-skinned person.
Blackness, the condition of having dark skin.
The black ball.
The edge of home plate.
A type of firecracker that is really more dark brown in colour.
Blackcurrant syrup (in mixed drinks, e.g. snakebite and black, cider and black).
(in chess and similar games) The person playing with the black set of pieces.
Example: At this point black makes a disastrous move.
Something, or a part of a thing, which is black.
A stain; a spot.
A dark smut fungus, harmful to wheat.
Marijuana.
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white
verb
To make black; to blacken.
To apply blacking to (something).
To boycott, usually as part of an industrial dispute.
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adjective
(of an object) Absorbing all light and reflecting none; dark and hueless.
(of a place, etc) Without light.
(sometimes capitalized) Of or relating to any of various ethnic groups having dark pigmentation of the skin.
Designated for use by those ethnic groups which have dark pigmentation of the skin.
Example: black drinking fountain; black hospital
(of a card) Of the spades or clubs suits. Compare red
Example: I was dealt two red queens, and he got one of the black queens.
Bad; evil; ill-omened.
Expressing menace, or discontent; threatening; sullen.
Example: He shot her a black look.
(of objects, markets, etc) Illegitimate, illegal or disgraced.
Overcrowded.
(of coffee or tea) Without any cream, milk or creamer.
Example: Jim drinks his coffee black, but Ellen prefers it with creamer.
Of or relating to the playing pieces of a board game deemed to belong to the "black" set (in chess the set used by the player who moves second) (often regardless of the pieces' actual colour).
Said of a symbol or character that is solid, filled with color. Compare white.
Related to the Christian Democratic Union of Germany.
Example: After the election, the parties united in a black-yellow alliance.
Clandestine; relating to a political, military, or espionage operation or site, the existence or details of which is withheld from the general public.
Example: 5 percent of the Defense Department funding will go to black projects.
Occult; relating to something (such as mystical or magical knowledge) which is unknown to or kept secret from the general public.
Protestant, often with the implication of being militantly pro-British or anti-Catholic
Having one or more features (hair, fur, armour, clothes, bark, etc) that is dark (or black); in taxonomy, especially: dark in comparison to another species with the same base name.
