nigrescencen.
/nʌɪˈɡrɛsns/, /nᵻˈɡrɛsns/, U.S. /naɪˈɡrɛs(ə)ns/ 1.
a. The process of becoming black; blackness. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > black or blackness > making or becoming black > [noun] > becoming black
nigrescence1856
1856 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters III. 138 An imaginative observer may find, perhaps, more to amuse him in the erratic nigrescence than in many a laboured picture.
1899 Times 29 July 13/1 It takes an appreciable time..to reach full incandescence, and, from that state, to reach nigrescence on being switched off.
1913 Jrnl. Ecol. 1 63 Ecological notes are given on..the scarcity of a number of common British plants, the nigrescence of many liverworts and lichens, etc.
b. Sociology. With reference to a black person: the process of discovering and evolving a racial identity.
ΚΠ
1978 W. E. Cross in Jrnl. Black Psychol. 5 13 This paper summarizes the Thomas and Cross models on psychological nigrescence and reviews the empirical studies that have been conducted to validate these models. Nigrescence means the process of becoming Black, and..the models, in effect, speak to the psychology of becoming Black.
1991 San Francisco Rev. Bks. Fall 49/2 The ‘Nigrescence’ (the process of becoming black) movement of the late 1960s affected reference-group orientation rather than personal identity.
1997 Jrnl. Black Stud. 28 241 The nigrescence theorists..have identified a process of Black psychologic and spiritual growth, during which racial identity evolves from a pro-White/anti-Black to a pro-Black/anti-White position.
2. Chiefly Cultural Anthropology. Darkness of hair, eyes, or complexion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > skin > complexion > darkness > [noun]
melanosity1885
nigrescence1885
brunetness1897
1885 J. Beddoe Races of Brit. 5 A ready means of comparing the colours of two peoples or localities is found in the Index of Nigrescence.
1897 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 26 126 The predominance of black hair in Brandon at the present day would therefore lead one to conclude that the pure Alemanni had a high index of nigrescence.
1917 Man 17 121 Hair, skin, and eyes showing the slighter degree of nigrescence possessed by the English.
1986 Man 21 192 The latter show prominent regions of ‘Nigrescence’ in hair colour.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1856