English word origin

Etymology of noir

Shortened from film noir, and from French noir. Doublet of negro.

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗

noun

Film noir. · A production in the style of film noir.

adj

Of or pertaining to film noir, or the atmosphere associated with that genre

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Shortened from film noir, and from French noir. Doublet of negro.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Borrowed-form mentionnoirfr
Doublet mentionnegroen

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "noir"
      },
      "expansion": "French noir"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "negro"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of negro"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "film noir",
      "film noir#English"
    ],
    [
      "noir",
      "noir#French"
    ],
    [
      "negro",
      "negro#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Film noir.",
        "A production in the style of film noir."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable",
        "countable"
      ],
      "recordId": "5034d7eae7f77c80a76f02ea08b4d0d3e75561ff42a997e3cf3c3e9d9a8f8364",
      "rawRecordSha256": "2278873cd22b69155fa86fb24d597dd424383edc3e1db1ca35058af0e560edd2",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 203103
    },
    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Of or pertaining to film noir, or the atmosphere associated with that genre"
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "f491f93e04a7f38b63b2b9d61b2646f0010dc1a2e11072044e5d048d6fe9b137",
      "rawRecordSha256": "b2816c9f432e4f1f7976277415b52b78fd9e908fea3d1d2b94f123b1664c5bb5",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 203102
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for noir →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-bm9pcg