Meanings
- dateduncountableBlackmail (rent paid in corn, meat, or the lowest coin).
[F]rom whose rich domains in Meath he received a “black rent” equivalent to £10,000 a year[.]
1856, “Notes on Old Irish Maps”, in Ulster Journal of Archaeology, volume 4, page 121 - IrelandhistoricaluncountableScottish BordersProtection money.
[S]he pays me the black rent, and I let her alone[.]
1831, Edmond O’Foelin, “Eman Oge: A Translation from an Original Irish Story”, in The National Magazine, volume 2, number 3, page 2891 more example
[N]othing could have preserved them from total extirpation but the assistance afforded them by the other Irish princes and tribes, whose friendship and protection they purchased by paying them a tribute, or black rent, as it was called.
1825, Edward O’Reilly, “An Essay on the Subject Proposed by the Royal Irish Academy”, in The Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, volume 14, page 160
Cite this entry
black rent. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20rent
“black rent.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20rent. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “black rent,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20rent.
Source: black rent on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.