There are still languages today that have just two words for colors that are essentially white for all light or warm colors and black for all dark or cool colors. Online Etymology Dictionary says “ White” is also one of the oldest surnames in English, originally referring to people with fair hair or a fair complexion. In Old English, it meant “bright and radiant, or clear and fair.” It could be describing something we think of as white such as snow, milk, or an old person’s hair, but it could also describe something transparent, or something light yellow, pale gray, or silver. “White” is a little more straightforward. So it took “black” a while to be limited to what we think of as black today. And to make it even more complicated, at some point, “black” could also be used to describe something bright, shining, or glittering, perhaps related to the idea that something that is burning is all those things. In fact, the Oxford English Dictionary says that it is often difficult to tell which of these two colors is meant in Old English texts when the context doesn’t make it clear. “Black” comes from very old words that meant “to burn” or “burned.” But the same old words also gave us “blake,” which is a now obscure word that meant pale, pallid, and ashen. In nearly all languages, the first colors to get names are black and white.
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