a black residue from the destructive distillation of bones, containing about 10 per cent carbon and 80 per cent calcium phosphate, used as a decolorizing agent and pigment
boneblack in American English
(ˈbounˌblæk)
noun
a black, carbonaceous substance obtained by calcining bones in closed vessels, used as a black pigment, a decolorizing agent, etc.
Also: bone black
Word origin
[1805–15; bone1 + black]This word is first recorded in the period 1805–15. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: backlash, napoleon, phase, platinum, soufflé