Jet Black

Jet is semi-precious stone that comes from fossilized wood. Not surprisingly, it’s black in color. References to jet have been found for hundreds of years.

Thus, a very, very black color is described as “jet” or “jet black.”

Note that the usage of “jet” meaning “a force ejected as thrust” has nothing to do with the stone. It’s from a French word for “to throw, cast, or impel.” Completely different origin.

Why I Looked It Up

I attended a dramatic reading of some of the works of Edgar Allen Poe. I noticed that in two of them performed that night, he used the phrase “jet black.” Since Poe lived in the first half of the 19th century, I got to wondering what reference he would have had to the word “jet,” and how he equated that to the color black.