black books
Preserved but no longer current.
To be in my black books. In bad odour; in disgrace; out of favour. A black book is a book recording the names of those who are in disgrace or have merited punishment. Amherst, in his Terrce Filius^ or the Secret History of the Universities of Oxford (1726), speaks of the Proctor's black book, and tells us that no one can proceed to a degree whose name is found there.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “black books” mean?
To be in my black books. In bad odour; in disgrace; out of favour. A black book is a book recording the names of those who are in disgrace or have merited punishment. Amherst, in his Terrce Filius^ or the Secret History of the Universities of Oxford (1726), speaks of the Proctor's black book, and tells us that no one can proceed to a degree whose name is found there.
Is “black books” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.