black

black, blacken verbs.

Black is used when the meaning is to deliberately make something black, as in blacking one's face, one's shoes, a person's eye, etc., in the meaning to declare something ‘black’ (i.e. to boycott it), and in the phrasal verb to black out. Blacken is more often used to imply an unintentional or fortuitous process (the ceiling blackened with smoke); unlike black, it can be used intransitively (The sky blackened), and is more common as a participial adjective:

• Then you notice the blackened buildings, boarded up houses and the painted slogans in the housing estates —Woman's Own, 1977.

Blacken also has a special figurative use, ‘to besmirch or tarnish’, with reference to people's character, reputation, etc.

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black

In the 1920s this word began to replace Negro, Negress, and, more particularly, the pejorative word Nigger, as a term for a person of African descent. In Britain, black can controversially refer to people of South Asian as well as African origin (although it is preferable to use specific terms such as Indian, Malay, Pakistani, etc.); in AmE the term African-American is also used. For a time it was thought appropriate to spell black with a capital initial as a racial term, but the normal preference now is for a small initial. Black is used in certain fixed collocations such as black music and Black English (see below).