Properly the absence of all colour. In Proverbs 7:9 the Hebrew word means, as in the margin of the Revised Version, "the pupil of the eye." It is translated "apple" of the eye in Deuteronomy 32:10; Psalm 17:8; Proverbs 7:2. It is a different word which is rendered "black" in Leviticus 13:31,37; Cant. 1:5; 5:11; and Zechariah 6:2, 6. It is uncertain what the "black marble" of Esther 1:6 was which formed a part of the mosaic pavement.

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (a.) Destitute of light, or incapable of reflecting it; of the color of soot or coal; of the darkest or a very dark color, the opposite of white; characterized by such a color; as, black cloth; black hair or eyes.

2. (a.) In a less literal sense: Enveloped or shrouded in darkness; very dark or gloomy; as, a black night; the heavens black with clouds.

3. (a.) Fig.: Dismal, gloomy, or forbidding, like darkness; destitute of moral light or goodness; atrociously wicked; cruel; mournful; calamitous; horrible.

4. (a.) Expressing menace, or discontent; threatening; sullen; foreboding; as, to regard one with black looks.

5. (adv.) Sullenly; threateningly; maliciously; so as to produce blackness.

6. (n.) That which is destitute of light or whiteness; the darkest color, or rather a destitution of all color; as, a cloth has a good black.

7. (n.) A black pigment or dye.

8. (n.) A negro; a person whose skin is of a black color, or shaded with black; esp. a member or descendant of certain African races.

9. (n.) A black garment or dress; as, she wears black

10. (n.) Mourning garments of a black color; funereal drapery.

11. (n.) The part of a thing which is distinguished from the rest by being black.

12. (n.) A stain; a spot; a smooch.

13. (v.) To make black; to blacken; to soil; to sully.

14. (v.) To make black and shining, as boots or a stove, by applying blacking and then polishing with a brush.