#swarthy

Native to English and originally meaning specifically "the color of soot or coal", this word is from Proto-Germanic *blakaz, an adjective meaning "burned". The Proto-Germanic is from Proto-Indo-European *bhleg-, "to burn, gleam, shine, or glow", which itself is from the PIE root *bhel-, "to flash or shine; to burn".

In Old English, this word was written as blæc, and it had a twin with the exact same etymology and the opposite meaning, written blac (which meant "pale, bright, glittering, shining"). The descendent of the latter is Middle English blake, from which the surname Blake (meaning either "pale or whitish" or "of dark complexion") is drawn. Because of the lack of standardized spelling in the Middle English period, it is difficult to know which meaning an author intended in any given instance.