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Kanji for Black

The kanji most commonly used for "Black" are 黒、玄、漆.

Kanji that mean Black

  • black, evil

    Also associated with foolish.

    Onyomi: koku Kunyomi: kuro, kuro.i, kuro.zumu 11 strokes Jōyō

  • black, profound

    Also associated with distant.

    Onyomi: gen Kunyomi: kuro, kuro.i 5 strokes Jōyō

  • lacquer, seven, black

    Onyomi: shitsu Kunyomi: urushi 14 strokes Jōyō

  • black, dark

    Also associated with ignorant.

    Onyomi: koku Kunyomi: kuro, kuro.i 12 strokes Jinmeiyō

  • ink, black

    Also associated with calligraphy.

    Onyomi: boku Kunyomi: sumi 14 strokes Jōyō

  • black, many, dawn

    Onyomi: rei, ri Kunyomi: kuro.i 15 strokes Jinmeiyō

  • crow, black

    Also associated with alas.

    Onyomi: o, u Kunyomi: izuku.nzo, karasu, nanzo 10 strokes Jinmeiyō

黒 is black, plainly — 黒い (black), 黒板 (blackboard), 真っ黒 (pitch black) — and like the English word it also carries the shady sense: 黒幕 is the figure behind the scenes, 腹黒い is black-hearted. 黑 is the same character in its older pre-reform shape, kept on the name list; it is not a separate word.

The rest name particular blacks. 漆 is lacquer, and 漆黒 is the jet black of a lacquered surface, the strongest word for black in ordinary use. 墨 is ink black, the black of ground calligraphy ink. 玄 is blackness as depth and obscurity rather than as a color, and it appears in 玄米 (unpolished rice), 玄関 (entrance hall) and 玄人 (kurōto, an expert).

黎 is dark almost only inside 黎明, first light, the moment the darkness breaks. 烏 is a crow, and reaches black through the bird; it is the character in 烏龍茶, oolong tea.

Before you use Black kanji

黒 is the character to use — read instantly, needing no explanation, though it shares English black's association with the underhanded. 漆 alone reads as lacquer, 烏 as crow, and 玄 as mysterious rather than black. 黑 is the old form of 黒, not a different word.

Other meanings to explore

See all kanji by meaning →

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