different between blackness vs murk

English

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?blækn?s/

Etymology

From Middle English blaknesse, equivalent to black +? -ness.

Noun

blackness (usually uncountable, plural blacknesses)

1. The state or quality of being black.

   The blackness of outer space comes from the lack of anything to reflect light rather than the absence of light.

2. The state of being of African descent.
   • 2018, David Betancourt, ‘Black Panther’ fully embraces its blackness -- and that's what makes it unforgettable, The Washington Post:

     “Black Panther” is a stunning visual and cultural achievement that takes superhero cinema where it’s never gone before by not being afraid to embrace its blackness.

Antonyms

• whiteness

Translations

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /m?k/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /m??k/
• Rhymes: -??(?)k

Etymology 1

From Middle English merke, mirke, from Old English mirce, myrce (“dark, gloomy, evil”) and Old Norse myrkr (“dark, murky”), both from Proto-Germanic *merkuz (“dark”), from Proto-Indo-European *merg?- (“to flicker; to darken; to be dark”). Cognate Danish mørk (“dark”), Norwegian mørk (“dark”), Swedish mörk (“dark”), Icelandic myrkur (“dark”), as also Albanian murg (“dark”), Proto-Slavic *mork? (“darkness”), Lithuanian márgas (“multicolored”), Ancient Greek ??????? (amorbós, “dark”).

Alternative forms

• mirk (archaic)
• mark (dialectal)

Adjective

murk (comparative murker, superlative murkest)

1. Dark, murky
   • J. R. Drake

     He cannot see through the mantle murk.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:mirk.

Derived terms

• murken

Etymology 2

From Middle English mirke, merke, from Old English mirce, myrce (“darkness, gloom”) and Old Norse myrkr (“darkness, gloom”), both from Proto-Germanic *merkw?, *mirkwiz (“darkness”), Proto-Indo-European *merg?- (“to flicker; to darken; to be dark”).

Noun

murk (uncountable)

1. Darkness, or a dark or gloomy environment.

   Synonym: gloom

Derived terms

• murky

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English mirken, probably from Old Norse myrkja, myrkva (“to make dark, darken”), from Proto-Germanic *mirkwijan?, *mirkwajan? (“to make dark”), from Proto-Indo-European *merg?- (“to flicker; to darken; to be dark”).

Verb

murk (third-person singular simple present murks, present participle murking, simple past and past participle murked)

1. To make murky or be murky; to cloud or obscure, or to be clouded or obscured.
   • 1918: Booth Tarkington, The Magnificent Ambersons [1]

     Dawn had been murking through the smoky windows, growing stronger for half an hour...

Translations

Etymology 4

Possibly an alteration of merc, from clipping of mercenary.

Alternative forms

• merk

Verb

murk (third-person singular simple present murks, present participle murking, simple past and past participle murked)

1. (African-American Vernacular, MLE) To murder or seriously injure.
   • 1991, Camp Lo, Coolie High

     cause we be murkin from the boogie

     And shittin on the crowds

     'cause they jive fakin woody.

   • 2010, Dana Dane, Numbers (page 232)

     That's why he was able to catch Crush out there sleeping and why he murked him before he could ask him any questions.

   • 2011, Treasure Hernandez, Baltimore Chronicles (volume 2)

     He clowned Sticks, and Sticks murked him for no reason. And I don't know for sure, but I think he murked Trail.

Anagrams

• Krum