黒暗

Japanese

Kanji in this term
黒	暗
こく Grade: 2	あん Grade: 3
on’yomi

Alternative spellings
黑暗 (kyūjitai) 黒闇

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 黑暗 (MC xok 'omH, “black darkness”). Compare modern Mandarin 黑暗 (hēi'àn).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) こくあん [kòkúáń] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ko̞kɯ̟ᵝã̠ɴ]

Noun

黒(こく)暗(あん) • (kokuan) 

1. absolute darkness
2. (Buddhism) a complete lack of virtue or wisdom
3. pure black (color/colour)

Derived terms

• 黒(こく)暗(あん)暗(あん) (kokuan'an, “pure black”)