黒
black
Readings
On'yomi
- コク
Kun'yomi
- くろ
- くろ.ずむ
- くろ.い
Meaning
黒 centers on the color black and things that are dark or blackened.
Most common words using 黒
24 of 403- 黒くろN5
black
- 黒いくろいN5
black
- 黒人こくじんN1
black person
- 暗黒あんこく
darkness
- 目黒めぐろ
Meguro City (special ward of Tokyo)
- 白黒しろくろ
black and white; monochrome
- 黒幕くろまく
black curtain
- 真っ黒まっくろN3
pitch black
- 黒木くろき
unbarked lumber
- 黒字くろじN2
(being in) the black; surplus
- 黒板こくばんN3
blackboard
- 黒色くろいろ
black (colour, color)
- 漆黒しっこく
jet-black; pitch-dark; raven-black; stygian
- 黒星くろぼし
black spot; black dot; bull's-eye
- 黒潮くろしお
Kuroshio Current; Japan Current
- 黒海こっかい
Black Sea
- 黒っぽいくろっぽい
dark; blackish
- 黒白くろしろ
black and white; right and wrong
- 大黒柱だいこくばしら
central pillar (of a building)
- 黒衣こくい
black clothes
- 黒鉛こくえん
graphite
- 浅黒いあさぐろい
dark (skin, complexion, etc.); swarthy; tanned
- 黒煙こくえん
black smoke
- 黒い霧くろいきり
thick fog (of suspicion); black veil of secrecy; covered-up crime, unethical act, etc.
Study
Etymology
黒 is a pictograph of a person with a tattooed or blackened face, later stylized into the modern form with 田, 土, and 灬.
Meaning mnemonic
The top 田 looks like a soot-covered window, the middle 土 is dark earth, and the bottom 灬 is a fire's ashes. Together they make black.
Reading mnemonic
For コク, imagine a black cock (rooster) covered in soot: cock -> コク, and its feathers are pitch black.