Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definitions: Blacken |
BlackenVerb1. Make or become black; "The smoke blackened the ceiling"; "The ceiling blackened". 2. Burn so as to affect color or taste; "blackened chicken breast"; "The ceiling above the fireplace was charred". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "blacken" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1657. (references) |
| Domain | Definitions |
Public Administration | To knock down flames, quench burning embers, and wet down charred fuel. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonyms: BlackenSynonyms: black (v), char (v), melanise (v), melanize (v), nigrify (v), scorch (v). (additional references) |
| Antonym: whiten (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Detraction | Verb: detract, derogate, decry, deprecate, depreciate, disparage; run down, cry down; backcap; belittle; sneer at; (contemn); criticize, pull to pieces, pick a hole in one's coat, asperse, cast aspersions, blow upon, bespatter, blacken, vilify, vilipend; avile; give a dog a bad name, brand, malign; muckrake; backbite, libel, lampoon, traduce, slander, defame, calumniate, bear false witness against; speak ill of behind one's back. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Blacken |
| English words defined with "blacken": Besmut, blacken out, blackheart, Blek ♦ Salix alba sericea, Salix sericea, silky willow, silver willow, Smeeth. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "blacken": Cats ♦ INK ♦ Kohol ♦ LAUREATE. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "blacken": Denigrate ♦ Nigrification. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Lyrics | Blacken my eye, (The Masochism Tango; performing artist: Tom Lehrer) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | Twilight was beginning to whiten all above and to blacken all below. |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | Hour by hour the cotton plants seemed to blacken and shrivel. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Civil Liberties | Saudi Arabia | Censors on occasion also remove or blacken offending articles imported into the country, glue pages together, or prevent certain issues of foreign publications from entering the market. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | LAUREATE, adj. Crowned with leaves of the laurel. In England the Poet Laureate is an officer of the sovereign's court, acting as dancing skeleton at every royal feast and singing-mute at every royal funeral. Of all incumbents of that high office, Robert Southey had the most notable knack at drugging the Samson of public joy and cutting his hair to the quick; and he had an artistic color-sense which enabled him so to blacken a public grief as to give it the aspect of a national crime. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Blacken" is generally used as a lexical verb (infinitive) -- approximately 76.92% of the time. "Blacken" is used about 39 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 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 76.92% | 30 | 63,341 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 23.08% | 9 | 117,287 |
| Total | 100.00% | 39 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "blacken": blacken out ♦ blacken smb.'s name ♦ blacken with coal ♦ blacken with smoke. 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 |
blacken | 9 |
blacken chicken | 7 |
blacken fish | 6 |
blacken decker | 5 |
blacken salmon | 5 |
blacken catfish | 3 |
blacken it | 3 |
blacken chicken recipe | 3 |
blacken seasoning | 2 |
blacken steak | 2 |
blacken clothing | 2 |
blacken catfish recipe | 2 |
blacken sky | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "blacken"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | nxij (bronze, bruise, denigrate, make black, tan, tarnish), nxihem (bronze, get suntanned), njollos (bespatter, blemish, blot, blur, cloud, defile, dye, imbrue, smear, smirch, smudge, splash, splotch, spot, stain, sully). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | سود (black, denigrate), ذم (asperse, blackguard, disparage, disparagement, dispraise, invective, slur, vilify, vituperate, vituperation), أسود (black, blackly, ebony, lions, negro, raven, sable), شوه السمعة (defame, slander, smear, soil, spatter, splatter). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | очерням (cloud, denigrate, dirty, slander, vilify), почернявам (bake, become black), почерням (turn black), потъмнявам (darken, darkle, discolour, film over, grow dark, lower, overcloud, tarnish). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 黷 (constantly, to insult), 涅 , 变黑 (Blackened, Blackening, Denigrate). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | zaèernit (black, blot out), èernat. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | لکه داریابدنام کردن , سیاه کردن (Black, Denigrate). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | mustua (grow black, tarnish), musteta (grow black), mustata (smear). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | noircir (black). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | schwärzen (black, black lead, coat, dress, paint). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | λερώνω (bedraggle, befoul, begrime, besmear, besmirch, bespatter, defile, dirty, foul, grime, moil, set off, slur, smear, smirch, soil, splotch, spot, stain, sully), δυσφημώ (bespatter, black, decry, defame, denigrate, discredit, disparage, libel, malign, slander, slur, traduce, vilify). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | ל"שמיץ (back bite, badmouth, defame, denigrate, malign, slander, slur, smear, stigmatize, traduce, vilify), ל"שחיר. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | bekormoz (blacken with smoke, smut, to begrime, to grime, to smoke, to smut, to soot), befeketít (black, decry, denigrate, to bad-mouth, to begrime, to black, to blacken, to denigrate, to malign, to smear, traduce), megfeketedik (to black, to blacken), feketére fest. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | merendahkan (attemper, debase, humiliate, lower), menghitamkan, membajai. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | oscurare (become obscure, black out, blind, darken, dim, obscure, overcast, overshadow, shade, shadow), diffamare (asperse, defame, libel, malign, slander, smear, traduce, vilify), annerire (darken, tarnish, to reek). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 'ずむ (to blacken, to darken), 'くする (to blacken), 'まる (to become black, to blacken), 'ばむ (to become black, to blacken). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | くろずむ (to blacken, to darken), くろくする (to blacken), くろまる (black dot, black spot, bull's eye, failure, to become black, to blacken), くろばむ (to become black, to blacken). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | dooghey (black, darken, ink), dooaghey (ink). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | ackenblay ficar negro, enegrecer (begrime), difamar (asperse, belie, blemish, defame, detract, libel, malign, reproach, scandalize, slander, smirch, speak evil of, stain, traduce, vilify), denegrir (crab, denigrate, disparage, vilify). (various references) ponegri (abuse, asperse, backbite, black, cry down, cut up, demolish, denigrate, mire, pull to pieces, run down, slander, write down), cerni (black, darken), înnegri (black, black out, smut, smutch). (various references) чернить (asperse, badmouth, bad-mouth, denigrate, smuts, vilify). (various references) pocrniti, ocrniti (besmirch, decry, denigrate). (various references) ennegrecer (black, darken), difamar (asperse, backbite, badmouth, cast aspersion, defame, libel, malign, traduce), denigrar (abase, abuse, denigrate, disparage, knock, run down). (various references) svartna, svärta (blackness, intensity, nigrescence, scoter). (various references) ทำให้เป็นสี"ำ. (various references) siyahlatmak (black), lekelemek (asperse, attaint, bastardize, bedaub, befoul, besmirch, blemish, blot, blotch, blur, brand, breathe upon, cloud, defile, dirty, discolor, discolour, dishonor, fleck, flecker, maculate, mottle, slur, smear, smirch, smudge, smutch, soil, spatter, speckle, splodge, splotch, spot, sprinkle, stain, stigmatize, sully, taint, tarnish), karartmak (becloud, bedim, befog, black, blackout, cloud, darken, dim, dim out, fade, fade out, fog, lour, lower, obfuscate, obscure, shadow), kararmak (darken, dim, get dark, grow dark, lour, tarnish), karalamak (bedaub, besmear, besmirch, blemish, blot out, breathe upon, calumniate, chalk out, dash, dash down, dash off, denigrate, doodle, draw, line through, pollute, rule smth. out, scandalize, score out, scrabble, scratch, scribble, scribble down, smudge, smut, strike through), kara çalmak (slander, smut). (various references) garalamak (dye). (various references) робити чорним (nigrify), загоряти (burn, sun, sun oneself, sunburn, tan). (various references) tywyllu (darken, obscure), pardduo (besmirch, defame, vilify), duo (black). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | denigrata, fusca, infusco. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "blacken": blackened, blackener, blackeners, blackening, blackenings, blackens. (additional references) | |
| |
"Blacken" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: balken, blacka, blackbean, Blackden, blacke, blacket, Blackmen, blaiken, blakeian, blaken, Blankney, blicken, blockcnt, blockmen, Bloxen, glackin, lacken. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "blacken" (pronounced bla"kun) |
| 5 | -l a" k u n | slacken. |
| 4 | -a" k u n | bracken. |
| 3 | -k u n | awaken, bacon, beacon, beckon, broken, chicken, darken, deacon, drunken, falcon, forsaken, gascon, harken, heartbroken, housebroken, interleukin, lichen, liken, Macon, misspoken, mistaken, outspoken, overtaken, Pekin, pelican, Pipkin, pumpkin, quicken, reawaken, reckon, republican, retaken, second, shaken, shrunken, sicken, silicon, spoken, stricken, sunken, taken, thicken, token, unbroken, undertaken, unshaken, unspoken, waken, weaken, woken, zircon. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-b-c-e-k-l-n" | |
-2 letters: ankle, black, blank, bleak, cable, clank, clean, lance. | |
-3 letters: able, acne, alec, back, bake, bale, balk, bane, bank, beak, bean, beck, blae, cake, calk, cane, clan, elan, kale, kane, lace, lack, lake, lane, lank, leak, lean, nabe, neck. | |
-4 letters: ace, alb, ale, ane, bal, ban, bel, ben, cab, can, cel, elk, kab, kae. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-b-c-e-k-l-n" | |
+1 letter: blackens. | |
+2 letters: blackened, blackener, blackness. | |
+3 letters: bechalking, becloaking, blackeners, blackening, blacksnake, linebacker. | |
+4 letters: backslidden, blackenings, blackhander, blacknesses, blacksnakes, knuckleball, linebackers, linebacking, shacklebone, uncheckable, unshockable. | |
+5 letters: backhandedly, backpedaling, blackhanders, knuckleballs, linebackings, shacklebones. | |
| 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 65 6E |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)-... .-.. .- -.-. -.- . -. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000010 01101100 01100001 01100011 01101011 01100101 01101110 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)B l a c k e n |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0042 006C 0061 0063 006B 0065 006E |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)36786769777180 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Quotations: Fiction 6. Quotations: Non-fiction 7. Usage Frequency 8. Expressions | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Translations: Ancient 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Orthography 16. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
