black bile

English

Etymology

Calque of Latin ātra bīlis, itself a calque of Ancient Greek μελαγχολία (melankholía).

Noun

black bile (uncountable)

1. (historical) One 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.

   Synonym: melancholy

   Coordinate terms: yellow bile, phlegm, blood

   • 1788, Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary: A Fiction‎^[1]:

     But these various pursuits did not banish all her cares, or carry off all her constitutional black bile.

   • 2011, Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Emperor of all Maladies, Fourth Estate, page 49:

     The problem with treating cancer surgically, Galen suggested, was that black bile was everywhere, as inevitable and pervasive as any fluid.

Translations

Translations

• Arabic: سَوْدَاء f (sawdāʔ)
• Dutch: zwarte gal f
• Finnish: musta sappi
• French: atrabile (fr) f, bile noire (fr) f, mélancolie (fr) f
• German: schwarze Galle f
• Irish: lionn dubh m
• Italian: bile nera f, atrabile (it) f, collera (it) f, umor nero m
• Ottoman Turkish: سودا (sevda)
• Persian: سودا (fa) (sowdâ), گش سیاه (goš-e siyâh)
• Polish: czarna żółć f
• Portuguese: bílis negra f, bile negra f
• Russian: чёрная желчь f (čórnaja želčʹ)
• Spanish: bilis negra (es) f, atrabilis f
• Swedish: svart galla c
• Turkish: sevda (tr)