Meanings
- uncountableElemental carbon in the form of very fine graphite particulates, a major component of soot.
Carbonaceous particles in the atmosphere consist of two major components — graphitic or black carbon and organic material.
1980, T. Novakov, Soot in the Atmosphere, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Report LBL-11676, page 11 more example
Black carbon is the sooty material ejected from diesel engines in their exhaust gases. RSSB notes that it can cause lung diseases. Nitrogen dioxide is also a product of burning diesel and can effect people's lungs.
2021 October 6, Philip Haigh, “Pollutants and air quality on our trains”, in RAIL, number 941, page 32
Origin
Coined by American physicist Tihomir Novakov in 1980.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 黑碳
- 黑碳 (hēitàn)fine carbon dust
Finnish musta hiili
- musta hiilifine carbon dust
Cite this entry
black carbon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20carbon
“black carbon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20carbon. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “black carbon,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20carbon.
Source: black carbon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.