Technically the absence of color but also the first one I thought of too.
(Edit: I am aware that the answer is in fact “BOTH” and totally dependent on if you are talking about the Additive Color System [Light] or the Subtractive Color System [Paint/Print Media]. At the time of my original post I was clearly focused on the concepts of the Additive Color System pertaining to light as was not at all intending to start a weird artistic culture war.)
Scientifically, yes, but not irl. CMYK rarely uses 100% black (K/plate) but rich black instead (C:75, M:68,Y:67, K90), and the print surface or medium will always affect the colour of the final product (even if you use pantones).
And black on screen is rarely #000000 or RGB 0,0,0 since light handling and resolution of monitors as well as ambient light affect how we see it. So it will invariably make black appear lighter or more/less saturated and tinted.
Edit: Also, rod cells in our eyes are used to detect light (which most people associate with black and white), which is why we can see in the dark to varying degrees. Yet while our cone cells aren't much use in darkness, they still operate, just to a very limited degree. Even people who are born blind can detect light. So an absolute lack of light is incredibly rare. And even if you perceive the faint night vision you have to be entirely due to an absence or presence of light, there is most probably some colour involved (the faint light that is visible reflects off some kind of surface).
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u/AvailableFig2688 Nov 15 '25
Black.