Noir
/nwɑːr/noun
A French word meaning black, used in English especially for a genre of dark, stylized crime fiction and film.
Did you know?The film-noir label was popularized by French critics after World War II for brooding Hollywood crime films, linking the word “black” with moral ambiguity and fatalism.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*negʷ-
“Black or dark; the reconstructed ancestral root associated with the Latin color word.”
Classical Latin
Latin
niger
“Black, dark, or dusky.”
Late Latin
Latin
niger
“Black; the form continued in Romance languages and developed regionally in pronunciation.”
Old French
Old French
neir / noir
“Black or dark-colored.”
12th–14th Century
Middle French
noir
“Black; also used figuratively for darkness or somberness.”
20th Century
English
noir
“A dark crime-fiction or film style, especially associated with fatalism, shadows, and moral ambiguity.”
Explore more surprising origins