Meanings
- historicaluncountableOne of the four humours of ancient and mediaeval physiology, that was believed to be secreted by the kidneys and spleen and to cause melancholy and sadness when present in excess.
But these various pursuits did not banish all her cares, or carry off all her constitutional black bile.
1788, Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary: A Fiction1 more example
The problem with treating cancer surgically, Galen suggested, was that black bile was everywhere, as inevitable and pervasive as any fluid.
2011, Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Emperor of all Maladies, Fourth Estate, page 49Synonyms: melancholy
Synonyms & antonyms
nounOne of the four humours of ancient and mediaeval physiology, that was believed to be secreted by the kidneys and spleen and to cause melancholy and sadness when present in excess.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna humor that was once believed to be secreted by the kidneys or spleen and to cause sadness and melancholy
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekμελαγχολία
- Latinātra bīlis
- Englishblack bile
Calque of Latin ātra bīlis, itself a calque of Ancient Greek μελαγχολία (melankholía).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic سَوْدَاء
- سَوْدَاء (sawdāʔ)Translations
Chinese Mandarin 黑膽汁 /黑胆汁
- 黑膽汁 /黑胆汁 (hēidǎnzhī)Translations
Dutch zwarte gal
- zwarte galTranslations
Finnish musta sappi
- musta sappiTranslations
French atrabile, bile noire
- atrabileTranslations
- bile noireTranslations
- mélancolieTranslations
German schwarze Galle
- schwarze GalleTranslations
Hindi सौदा
- सौदा (saudā)Translations
Irish lionn dubh
- lionn dubhTranslations
Italian bile nera, atrabile
- bile neraTranslations
- atrabileTranslations
- colleraTranslations
- umor neroTranslations
Persian سودا, گش سیاه
- سودا (sowdâ)Translations
- گش سیاه (goš-e siyâh)Translations
Polish czarna żółć
- czarna żółćTranslations
Portuguese bílis negra, bile negra
- bílis negraTranslations
- bile negraTranslations
Russian чёрная желчь
- чёрная желчь (čórnaja želčʹ)Translations
Spanish bilis negra, atrabilis
- bilis negraTranslations
- atrabilisTranslations
Swedish svart galla
- svart gallaTranslations
Turkish sevda
- sevdaTranslations
Cite this entry
black bile. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20bile
“black bile.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20bile. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “black bile,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20bile.
Source: black bile on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.