black letter
1
9.9
- noun
- /blæk ˈlɛtər/
- Archaic
:
letra gótica
- On the old barn door, the word OPEN was painted in large black letters to welcome visitors.
- black letter rule
Examples
-
It depicts a moose and says, in large black letters: WELCOME TO THE CAMP.
Fiction book (2002) -
A sign in the window - thick black letters - read:
Fiction book (2002) -
Tall, thick, black letters, But they're out of focus so you begin to drift closer to them.
-
She squinted at the groups of black letters.
Fiction book (2002) -
It's written in big black letters and reads "Sur 13 POR VIDA," or "Sur 13 FOR LIFE."
Blog text (3) -
The historical manuscript displayed the title in elegant black letters that captivated the audience.
-
The invitation was printed in bold black letters, making it easy to read from a distance.
Synonyms
1
9.0
A heavy dark printed letter style used in old European books
How Ornate
- Specialized
- Archaic
1
9.9
- Specialized
4
7.0
- Specialized
1
6.1
- Specialized
2
3.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
Although 'black' + 'letter' has a loose, historical link (the script appears dark or heavy on the page), the phrase refers to a specific historical typeface rather than simply a dark-coloured character. This specialized, lexicalized sense is not fully predictable from the constituents and so would likely be only partially clear to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The name black letter may come from old books where the black strokes of each letter were made so thick and close together that a page looked almost 'black' with ink. That's why black letter means the heavy, dark style of old printed writing.