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black belt. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
black belt, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
black belt in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
black belt you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology 1
Calque of Japanese 黒帯 (kuroobi)
Noun
black belt (plural black belts)
- (martial arts) The highest belt colour in various martial arts.
- Synonym: dan
- (martial arts) Someone who has attained the black belt in martial arts.
- Synonym: dan
- Raymond is a black belt in karate.
- (figurative, colloquial) Great skill in any field.
- (management) A senior manager who is expert in one of various management systems such as Six Sigma or DMAIC and acts in a project leader or mentor role.
2011, Bob Paladino, Five Key Principles of Corporate Performance Management, →ISBN:I had the good fortune of being engaged to participate as a trainer to GE Capital Corporation, where we helped to launch their now well-known and highly regarded black belt program.
Coordinate terms
Translations
highest belt color in various martial arts
person who has attained the black belt
Etymology 2
From black + belt, originally named after the dark soil.
Noun
black belt (plural black belts)
- (US, southern) A geographic region where the residents are predominantly or exclusively African-American.
1992, Hanes Walton, The Native Son Presidential Candidate: The Carter Vote in Georgia, →ISBN, page 5:Bernard Cosman found that in Georgia, it was the black belt whites who gave Goldwater his largest percentage of the vote.
- (geology) A roughly crescent-shaped geological formation of dark fertile soil in the Southern United States.
2014, Richard Pillsbury, editor, The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, volume 2, University of North Carolina Press, →ISBN, page 157:The Black Belt region, also called the Black Prairie, extends 300 miles across central Alabama and northeast Mississippi and into Tennessee. […] The dark soil for which the Black Belt was named was once famous for its richness and the abundant cotton produced in it.
2018, Seth C. McKee, The Dynamics of Southern Politics: Causes and Consequences, CQ Press, →ISBN, page 9:The most politically powerful southerners were those who hailed from the black belt region— distinguished by its dark and fertile soil—which contained the bulk of large-scale plantation and hence the highest percentage of slaves.
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