What does in the black?
Matthew Perez
Updated on April 29, 2026
Definition of in the black
: making a profit : profitable The company is finally in the black.Where did the term in the black originate?
Origin of In the BlackBoth expressions originated from the record keeping practices of business, where financial losses were written in red and financial profits were written in black. In the black originated in the first half of the 1900s. See also the phrase in the red.
What's in the red mean?
Definition of in the red: spending and owing more money than is being earned Apparently the company had been in the red for some time before it went out of business.