Meaning

noun the makeup (usually burnt cork) used by a performer in order to imitate a Negro

originEtymology tree Proto-Germanic *blakaz Proto-West Germanic *blak Old English blæc Middle English blak English black Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁k- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁kyéti Proto-Italic *θakjō Proto-Italic *fakjō Late Latin faciō Proto-Italic *-jēs Late Latin -iēs Late Latin faciēs Late Latin facia Old French facebor. Middle English face English face English blackface…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0