How do you say "black" in Roman?

How you say black in Roman, meaning Latin as used by ancient Romans, is niger for glossy or shiny black and ater for dull or gloomy black. Ancient Romans distinguished between these two types of black, niger was lustrous black like black hair or rich fabric, while ater was matte, sooty, or dismal black like darkness or soot. Both are correct depending on context. For example, you would say capilli nigri for black hair that shines, and nox atra for black night that is gloomy. Feminine forms are nigra and atra, neuter forms are nigrum and atrum. The Romans also used piceus meaning pitch black like pitch. If you want a single most common word to say black in Roman Latin, niger is the most widely recognized and taught. This word gave rise to many Romance language words for black such as Italian nero, French noir, Spanish negro and Portuguese preto also from another root. So in Roman Latin, black is niger or ater.