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

Black Art

Definition: Black Art

Black Art

Noun

1. The belief in magical spells that harness occult forces or evil spirits to produce unnatural effects in the world.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Specialty Definitions: Black Art

DomainDefinitions

Computing

Black art n. [common] A collection of arcane, unpublished, and (by implication) mostly ad-hoc techniques developed for a particular application or systems area (compare black magic). VLSI design and compiler code optimization were (in their beginnings) considered classic examples of black art; as theory developed they became deep magic, and once standard textbooks had been written, became merely heavy wizardry. The huge proliferation of formal and informal channels for spreading around new computer-related technologies during the last twenty years has made both the term `black art' and what it describes less common than formerly. See also voodoo programming. Source: Jargon File.

Literature

Black Art The art practised by conjurors, wizards, and others, who professed to have dealings with the devil. Black here means diabolical or wicked. Some derive it from nigromancy, a corruption of necromancy. Source: Brewer's Dictionary.

Slang in 1811

BLACK ART. The art of picking a lock. Cant. Source: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Synonyms: Black Art

Synonyms: black magic (n), sorcery (n). (additional references)

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Synonyms within Context: Black Art

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Sorcery

Noun: sorcery; occult art, occult sciences; magic, the black art, necromancy, theurgy, thaumaturgy; demonology, demonomy, demonship; diablerie, bedevilment; witchcraft, witchery; glamor; fetishism, fetichism, feticism; ghost dance, hoodoo; obi, obiism; voodoo, voodooism; Shamanism, vampirism; conjuration; bewitchery, exorcism, enchantment, mysticism, second sight, mesmerism, animal magnetism; od force, odylic force; electrobiology, clairvoyance; spiritualism, spirit rapping, table turning.

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Crosswords: Black Art

English words defined with "black art": Niello. (references)
Specialty definitions using "black art": BLACK ARTexabyte, examining the entrailsJoint Bi-level Image Experts Grouprunes. (references)

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Modern Usage: Black Art

DomainUsage

Movie/TV Titles

Black Art (1915)

Oriental Black Art (1908)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Black Art

DomainTitle

Books

  • Black Art of Java Game Programming (reference)

    (more book examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Expression: Black Art

Expression using "black art": the black art. Additional references.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Black Art

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day

  black art

1,661

  black art work

597

  black art print

32

  black art gallery

26

  black art wholesale

20

  religious black art

18

  black art picture

17

  african american black art

10

  framed black art

9

  black art figurine

8

  black art poster

6

  black art calendar

4

  contemporary black art

3

  black art for sale

3
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translations: Black Art

Language Translations for "black art"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Bulgarian 

  

магия (bewitchment, cantrip, charm, conjuration, enchantment, hex, magic, necromancy, obi, theurgy, witchcraft, witchery, wizardry). (various references)

   

Greek 

  

μαύρη μαγεία (black magic, sorcery). (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

bűvészet (magic). (various references)

   

Japanese Kanji 

  

妖" (black magic, sorcery, witchcraft). (various references)

   

Japanese Katakana 

  

ようじゅつ (black magic, sorcery, witchcraft). (various references)

   

Manx

  

ellyn ghoo, doo-ellyn (black magic), doo-chliaghtey (black magic). (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

ackblay artay

   

Portuguese

  

magia negra (black magic, devilry, deviltry, witchcraft, witchery). (various references)

   

Romanian

  

magie (magic, witchery). (various references)

   

Spanish

  

magia negra (black magic). (various references)

   

Turkish

  

kara büyü (black magic). (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Anagrams: Black Art

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Words within the letters "a-a-b-c-k-l-r-t"

-3 letters: aback, alack, altar, artal, black, bract, cabal, carat, craal, kabar, karat, kraal, labra, rabat, ratal, tabla, talar, track.

-4 letters: acta, alar, alba, arak, baal, back, balk, bark, blat, brat, calk, carb, cark, carl, cart, crab, kart, kata, kbar, lack, lark, rack, tack, taka, tala, talc, talk.

-5 letters: aal, aba, act, ala, alb, alt.

 Words containing the letters "a-a-b-c-k-l-r-t"
 

+1 letter: trackball.

 

+2 letters: blackheart, blackwater, trackballs.

 

+3 letters: blackhearts, blackwaters, leatherback.

 

+4 letters: leatherbacks.

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.

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Alternative Orthography: Black Art


Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)

42 6C 61 63 6B      41 72 74

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)

    

Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)

01000010 01101100 01100001 01100011 01101011 00100000 01000001 01110010 01110100

HTML Code (1990) (references)

&#66 &#108 &#97 &#99 &#107 &#32 &#65 &#114 &#116

ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)

0042 006C 0061 0063 006B      0041 0072 0074

Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)

36786769772358486

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INDEX

1. Definition
2. Synonyms
3. Crosswords
4. Usage: Modern
5. Usage: Commercial
6. Expressions
7. Expressions: Internet
8. Translations: Modern
9. Anagrams
10. Orthography
11. Bibliography


  

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