Where does “black square” come from?
black square (English) comes from English square, from Middle English square, from Old French esquarre, from Vulgar Latin exquadra, from Latin ex, from Latin commūnicō, from Latin commūnis, from Old Latin com(m)oinis — resin.
black square (English): A predominantly black image, posted by users of social media, as a demonstration of support for awareness and protest campaigns, particularly those related to racism and police brutality
Definitions
- A predominantly black image, posted by users of social media, as a demonstration of support for awareness and protest campaigns, particularly those related to racism and police brutality
Ancestry of “black square”, step by step
black square traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English square
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | square | A polygon with four sides of equal length and... |
| 2 | Middle English | square | A square tool used to ensure a right angle |
| 3 | Old French | esquarre | square |
| 4 | Vulgar Latin | exquadra | — |
| 5 | Latin | ex | A name of the letter "X"; out of, from |
| 6 | Latin | commūnicō | to impart, share |
| 7 | Latin | commūnis | common, commonplace, ordinary, general, universal, shared, shared alike, of both sides, belonging to two or more together |
| 8 | Old Latin | com(m)oinis | — |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | kommoinis | common |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱom-moy-ni- | held in common |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 13 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 14 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 15 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 16 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 17 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
via English Black
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Black | Alternative letter-case form of black |
| 2 | Old French | blanc | white |
| 3 | Late Latin | blancus | white |
| 4 | Frankish | blank | bright; gleaming, white, blinding; bright,... |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | *blank | — |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | blankaz | bright, shining, white, gleaming, blinding |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | bhleg- | to shine, white; to shine, burn, scorch |