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

Definition: Black Art |
Black ArtNoun1. 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. |
| Domain | Definitions |
Computing | Black art n. [common] A collection of arcane, unpublished, and (by implication) mostly ad-hoc techniques developed for a particular application or systems area (compare black magic).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. | |
Synonyms: Black ArtSynonyms: black magic (n), sorcery (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms 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. | |
Crosswords: Black Art |
| English words defined with "black art": Niello. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "black art": BLACK ART ♦ exabyte, examining the entrails ♦ Joint Bi-level Image Experts Group ♦ runes. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | Black Art (1915) Oriental Black Art (1908) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Expression using "black art": the black art. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| 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. |
| Expression | Frequency 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. | |
| 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 magia negra (black magic, devilry, deviltry, witchcraft, witchery). (various references) magie (magic, witchery). (various references) magia negra (black magic). (various references) kara büyü (black magic). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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. | |
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)B l a c k   A r t |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0042 006C 0061 0063 006B      0041 0072 0074 |
Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)36786769772358486 |
| 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.