animal black
- noun
- /ˈænɪməl blæk/
- Archaic
:
negro animal
- Historically, printer's ink often contained animal black as a main ingredient.
Examples
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Restorers found traces of animal black pigment in the old painting.
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The artist used animal black in her latest painting.
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The artist chose animal black as the base for his dark background.
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Many inks contain animal black for deep color.
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Historically, printer's ink often contained animal black as a main ingredient.
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Restorers found traces of animal black pigment in the old painting.
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The artist chose animal black as the base for his dark background.
Synonyms
A black pigment made by burning animal bones for paint and ink
A black material made by burning animal bones used to color things and clean liquids
A black material made by burning animal bones used to colour or filter liquids
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun is a straightforward composition: 'black' names a type of black (pigment/color) and 'animal' specifies its source, so a learner who knows both words can infer this is a black derived from animals (i.e., animal-sourced pigment). This follows common compounding patterns (source/type) found cross-linguistically, making the sense predictable to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The noun animal black comes from an old practice: people burned animal bones until they turned to charcoal and then ground them into a very dark powder. Because the pigment was made from animal bones and gave a deep black color, it was called animal black and used for 'paint' and 'ink'.
