Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definition: BLACK-LETTER |
BLACK-LETTERAdjective1. Of or pertaining to the days in the calendar not marked with red letters as saints' days. Hence: Unlucky; inauspicious. 2. Given to the study of books in black letter; that is, of old books; out of date. 3. Written or printed in black letter; as, a black-letter manuscript or book. |
Date "BLACK-LETTER" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1837. (references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Oldness | Prime; primitive, primeval, primigenous; paleolontological, paleontologic, paleoanthropological, paleoanthropic, paleolithic; primordial, primordinate; aboriginal; (beginning); diluvian, antediluvian; protohistoric; prehistoric; antebellum, colonial, precolumbian; patriarchal, preadamite; paleocrystic; fossil, paleozoolical, paleozoic, preglacial, antemundane; archaic, classic, medieval, Pre-Raphaelite, ancestral, black-letter. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: BLACK-LETTER |
| Specialty definitions using "BLACK-LETTER": Black Letter Day. (references) |
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "BLACK-LETTER" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "BLACK-LETTER" is used about 3 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 100% | 3 | 202,518 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Language | Translations for "BLACK-LETTER"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Chinese | 黑信件. (various references) | |
Danish | gotisk skrift (Gothic, gothic writing), fraktur (fracture). (various references) | |
Dutch | gothische letter (Gothic). (various references) | |
French | caractère gothique. (various references) | |
German | gotische Schrift (Church text, German text, Gothic, gothic writing). (various references) | |
Hungarian | fekete nap (black-letter day). (various references) | |
Korean | 까맣 서. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ack-letterblay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | carácter gótico (Gothic). (various references) | |
Russian | будний день (black-letter day, weekday, week-day, workday). (various references) | |
Spanish | carácter gótico (Gothic). (various references) | |
Swedish | tykobrahedag (black-letter day). (various references) | |
Turkish | uğursuz gün (black-letter day), şanssız gün (black-letter day). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Words rhyming with "BLACK-LETTER" (pronounced 'Black"-let`ter'): Amphiaster, Anglemeter, Animater, Archiater, Backwater, Bandmaster, Bargemastter, Beemaster, Bergmaster, Blendwater, Bloodletter, Bogtrotter, Breakwater, Burghermaster, Burghmaster, Burgomaster, Calc-sinter, Capellmeister, Catchwater, Chalkcutter, Coal-meter, Cockmaster, Colporter, Confederater, Constituter, Controverter, Corncutter, Court-plaster, Craftsmaster, Criticaster, Cutwater, Dekaliter, Dekameter, Dynamiter, Fillibuster, Fresh-water, goddaughter, limewater, Macerater, manslaughter, Masticater, Medicaster, Meliorater, micromillimeter, midwinter, Mint-master, news-letter, Ohmmeter, Outfitter, Penteconter. (additional references) |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-b-c-e-e-k-l-l-r-t-t" | |
-3 letters: bracelet, bractlet, cellaret, raclette, retackle. | |
-4 letters: abetter, battler, beretta, blacker, blatter, bleaker, bleater, bracket, brattle, clatter, labeler, relabel, retable, tackler, treacle. | |
-5 letters: backer, balker, baller, ballet, batter, battle, beaker, beater, becket, belter, berake, berate, betake, better, cablet, calker, caller, callet, cartel, cattle, cellae, cellar, cerate, cereal, claret, create, ecarte, elater, kelter, kettle, labret. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Usage Frequency 6. Translations: Modern 7. Rhymes 8. Anagrams | 9. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.