black-artistn.
/blakˈɑːtɪst/, U.S. /ˌblækˈɑrdəst/ Now rare.
A practitioner of the black art (black art n. 1); a magician, necromancer.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > the occult > sorcery, witchcraft, or magic > sorcerer or magician > [noun] > necromancer
nigromancera1387
nigromancianc1390
necromancer1547
necromantic?1548
necromantist1584
black-artist1593
nigromant1598
nigromantica1600
psychagogue1843
necromanta1849
1593 G. Harvey Pierces Supererogation 137 He that penned the abooue-mentioned Cock-alilly, saw reason to display the Black Artist in his collier coolours.
a1618 J. Sylvester tr. Little Bartas in tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Diuine Weekes & Wks. (1621) 773 Those Black-Artists that consult with Hell.
1740 T. Lediard German Spy (ed. 2) xlvii. 425 They have a very great Opinion of the Devil's Skill in mechanical Arts, and if any Piece of Workmanship happen to excel, to be sure the black Artist is call'd upon to account for it.
1825 T. Carlyle Life Schiller (1845) ii. 66 Spectres..the terror-struck black-artist cannot lay them.
1892 C. G. Leland tr. H. Heine Wks. VI. iii. 258 Yes, our black-artist in the legend oft appears as one with the first printer.
1908 C. Porter & H. A. Clarke in W. Shakespeare Tempest Notes 87 The wise King Dardanus could easily have overpowered the emperor..if he had chosen to use his supernatural knowledge of the Black Art; for there was no greater black artist.
2000 A. S. Byatt On Hist. & Stories vi. 157 [It was] a product of the Black Arts... When I rewrote the story..I made the tailor kill the Black-artist with an ice-splinter that is not in Grimm.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1593