black (adj.) Copy link Outline I. Of colour1. āter, tra, trum (prop. dead b.)2. nĭger, gra, grum (prop. a glossy b.)3. nigrans, antis (chiefly poet.)II. Dismal, calamitous1. āter2. nĭgerIII. Horrible, atrocious • black (adj.): I. Of colour: 1. āter, tra, trum (prop. dead b.): do you drink white or b. wine? album an a. vinum potas? Pl.: I will make her as black as a coal, reddam tam atram quam carbo est, Ter.: a b. cloud, a. nubes, Cic.: a b. (gloomy) colour, color a., Ov. 2. nĭger, gra, grum (prop. a glossy b.): to say what things are white, what b., quae alba sint, quae n. dicere, Cic.: although he was b. (or swarthy), you fair, quamvis ille n., quamvis tu candidus esses, Virg.: volumes of b. smoke, n. volumina fumi, Ov.: b. blood, n. sanguis, Ov.: the sky was blacker than pitch, coelum pice nigrius fuit, Ov. 3. nigrans, antis (chiefly poet.): b. wings, nigrantes alae, Ov.: Virg. Phr.: to be b., nigrare, Lucr.: to become b., nigrescere, Ov.: Plin.: v. dark, dirty. II. Dismal, calamitous: 1. āter: a b. day, dies a., Virg.: b. death, a. mors, Hor. 2. nĭger: a b. day, n. sol, Hor.: Ov. III. Horrible, atrocious: q. v.