white
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: enpr: wīt
ipa: /waɪt/
note: without the wine–whine merger
enpr: hwīt
ipa: /ʍaɪt/
note: without the wine–whine merger
rhymes: -aɪt
homophone: wight
homophone: Wight
homophone: wite (wine–whine merger)
Forms: form: whiter
form: more white
form: whitest
form: most white
form: whight
form: whyte
form: whyght
form: White
Etymology: Inherited from Middle English whit, hwit, from Old English hwīt, from Proto-West Germanic *hwīt, from Proto-Germanic *hwītaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱweydós, a byform of *ḱweytós (“bright; shine”).
Cognates
* West Frisian wyt
*Dutch wit
* German weiß
* German weiss
* Norwegian Bokmål hvit
* Norwegian Nynorsk kvit
* Lithuanian šviẽsti (“to gleam”), šviesa (“light”)
* Old Church Slavonic свѣтъ (světŭ, “light”), свѣтьлъ (světĭlŭ, “clear, bright”)
* Persian سفید (sefid, “white”), Persian سپید (sepid, “white”)
* Avestan 𐬯𐬞𐬀𐬉𐬙𐬀 (spaēta, “white”)
* Sanskrit श्वेत (śvetá, “white, bright”).
Senses: examples: text: Write in black ink on white paper.
text: white as the whitest lily on a stream.
ref: c. 1878, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Holidays:
text: While some of the more exotic varieties are becoming more popular with nationwide growers, such as the pale pinkish white pineberry, local farms will frequently plant a few different varieties to best suit their region.
ref: 2022 May 9, Casey Barber, “Strawberry season has arrived. Here are tips for enjoying spring’s sweetest treat”, in CNN, archived from the original on 04 Jul 2022:
antonyms: black
nonwhite
unwhite
glosses: Bright and colourless; reflecting equal quantities of all frequencies of visible light.
glosses: Of or relating to Europeans or those of European descent, regardless if their skin has cool or warm undertones.
examples: text: […]more white corporations cognizant of the mounting purchasing power of the Negro consumer, have Negro representatives in the field[…].
ref: 1949, Wendell P. Alston, “The Green Book”, in The Negro Motorist Green Book, New York: Victor H. Green, published 1949, page 3:
text: Ms. Ringwald finds a few things about these films regrettable. One thing she found "significantly disturbing," she wrote, "was how white the films are."
ref: 2004 May 9, Michael Joseph Gross, “When the Losers Ruled in Teenage Movies”, in New York Times:
text: If you're from Africa, why are you white?
ref: 2004, Tina Fey, Mean Girls, spoken by Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried):
glosses: Of or relating to Caucasians (people with white complexion and European ancestry).
glosses: By U.S. Census Bureau definition, of or relating to people hailing from Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
examples: text: white drinking fountain
text: white hospital
glosses: Designated for use by Caucasians.
examples: text: white wine
text: white grapes
text: white birch
glosses: Relatively light or pale in colour.
examples: text: Or whispering with white lips, "The foe! / They come! they come!"
ref: 1812–1818, Lord Byron, “(please specify |canto=I to IV)”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. A Romaunt, London: […] [F]or John Murray, […]; William Blackwood, Edinburgh; and John Cumming, Dublin; by Thomas Davison, […], →OCLC, (please specify the stanza number):
glosses: Pale or pallid, as from fear, illness, etc.
synonyms: fair
pale
antonyms: tanned
glosses: Lacking coloration (tan) from ultraviolet light; not tanned.
raw_tags: of a person or skin
glosses: Affected by leucism.
raw_tags: of an animal
antonyms: black
glosses: Containing cream, milk, or creamer.
raw_tags: of coffee or tea
examples: text: The white pieces in this set are in fact made of light green glass.
text: Consequently, in the initial position the white pieces and pawns are placed on the first and second ranks; the black pieces and pawns on the eighth and seventh ranks.
ref: 2022, “2023 Laws of Chess”, in FIDE, page 21:
topics: board-games
chess
games
qualifier: board games
glosses: The standard denomination of the playing pieces of a board game deemed to belong to the white set, no matter what the actual colour.
examples: text: a white monk
glosses: Pertaining to an ecclesiastical order whose adherents dress in white habits; Cistercian.
examples: text: White as thy fame, and as thy honour clear.
ref: 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Second Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:
text: 'The preacher had not proceeded far in his sermon,' said the man, ' before I thought him the whitest man I ever saw. My hat was instantly taken off and thrown under the seat, and I found myself listening with the most profound attention.'
ref: 1837, M. Huxley, in Timothy Mather Cooley, Sketches of the life and character of the Rev. Lemuel Haynes, A. M., for many years pastor of a church in Rutland, Vt., and late in Granville, New-York, page 73
text: ... the parson, […
ref: 1867, Mark Twain, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and Other Sketches, George Routledge and Sons, page 36:
text: ... Rayner seems powerful anxious to get you on the paper. A good fellow is Rayner; as white a man as I ever knew; and he has as many old friends as would make a good-sized city.
ref: 1877, Walter Besant, James Rice, The Golden Butterfly, page 218:
text: "So I'm here to say I'm sorry." Another big gulp.
Troop heaved himself slowly off the locker he was sitting on and held out an eleven-inch hand. "I mistrusted 'twould do you sights o' good; an' this shows I weren't mistook in my jedgments^([sic])."
"You're white," said Dan, as Harvey regained the deck, flushed to the tips of his ears.
ref: 1897, Rudyard Kipling, Captains Courageous:
text: No whiter page than Addison's remains. / He from the taste obscene reclaims our youth, / And sets the passions on the side of Truth,
ref: 1737, Alexander Pope, First Epistle of the Second Book of Horace; republished in The Complete Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1902, page 194:
text: “I’ll put you down at my club; and then, the governor will want to see you in the country.” / Jim had no idea of what was involved in being put down at a club, but he consented. “That ’s mighty white of you, old man, but I don’t know where I shall make down.”
ref: 1901, Hamlin Garland, Her Mountain Lover, page 51:
text: "I meant to act white by you," he answered.
ref: 1913, Edith Wharton, The Custom of the Country, Penguin, →ISBN, page 155:
text: He's a fine fellow, this Gabriel Stanton, a white man all through
ref: 1916, Julia Frankau, Twilight:
text: ‘We've only met twice and you've been more than white to me both times.’
ref: 1953, Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye, Penguin, published 2010, page 12:
text: Even decency has been regarded as a white or Christian attribute, as is evidenced by the expression "that's very white of you"
ref: 1976, United Church of Christ, A.D., number 1, page 34:
glosses: Honourable, fair, decent, kind; generous.
examples: text: Your high engendered battles 'gainst a head / So old and white as this.
ref: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
glosses: Grey, as from old age; having silvery hair; hoary.
examples: text: On the whole, however, the dominie reckoned this as one of the white days of his life.
ref: 1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC:
glosses: Characterized by freedom from that which disturbs, and the like; fortunate; happy; favourable.
examples: text: I am his white boy, and will not be gulled.
ref: c. 1626, John Ford, Tis Pity She's a Whore:
glosses: Regarded with especial favour; favourite; darling.
examples: text: Aimée de Coigny had always adopted with enthusiasm the political views of her ruling lover and she had thus already held nearly every shade of opinion from red republicanism to white reaction.
ref: 1932, Duff Cooper, Talleyrand, Folio Society, published 2010, page 163:
topics: government
politics
glosses: Pertaining to constitutional or anti-revolutionary political parties or movements.
examples: text: Most often consisting of a budset pluck, a frost tea has the clarity and freshness of a white tea, with the richness and lingering finish of a finely crafted black tea.
ref: 2012, Mary Lou Heiss, Robert J. Heiss, The Tea Enthusiast's Handbook, →ISBN:
glosses: Made from immature leaves and shoots.
raw_tags: of tea
topics: media
publishing
typography
glosses: Not containing characters; see white space.
examples: Compare two Unicode symbols: ☞ = "WHITE RIGHT POINTING INDEX"; ☛ = "BLACK RIGHT POINTING INDEX"
topics: media
publishing
typography
glosses: Said of a symbol or character outline, not solid, not filled with color. Compare black (“said of a character or symbol filled with color”).
examples: text: a white Christmas
text: a white Easter
glosses: Characterised by the presence of snow.
examples: text: For instance, tyro jousters in fifteenth-century Iberia wore “white armor,” while experienced men wore surcoats over their harness (Fallows 2010, 80), while fabric-covered breastplates are depicted in many examples of fifteenth-century northern European art.
ref: 2015 August 31, Albrecht Classen, Handbook of Medieval Culture, Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, →ISBN:
glosses: Alwhite, pertaining to white armor.
raw_tags: of a set of armor
Derived terms: word: angry white male
word: angry white man
word: antimony white
word: antique white
word: anti-white
word: Argentine black and white tegu
word: Bath white
word: Berlin white
word: big white chief
word: big white telephone
word: black-and-white
word: black and white
taxonomic: Papilio nephelus sunatus
word: black and white Helen
word: black-and-white ruffed lemur
word: black and white tegu
word: black-and-white television
word: black and white village
word: black and white warbler
word: black-or-white
word: black-veined white
word: blacky-white
word: bleed white
word: blue-and-white
word: blue-white screen
word: body in white
word: cabbage white
word: Californian white sage
word: chalk-white
word: Chester County White
word: Chester White
word: China white
word: China White
word: Chinese white
word: Chinese white dolphin
word: Chinese white pear
word: Chinese white radish
word: code white
word: Cremnitz white
word: Crems white
word: dead white European male
word: eastern white pine
word: egg-white
word: European white elm
word: fade to white
word: flat white
word: floral white
word: flying white
word: French white
word: giant white radish
word: greater white-fronted goose
taxonomic: Carcharodon carcharias
word: great white
word: great white egret
word: great white heron
word: great white hope
word: great white rat
word: great white shark
word: green-veined white
word: green-white-checker
word: green-white-checkered
word: green-white-chequer
word: green-white-chequered
word: hard white
word: hoist the white flag
word: honorary white
word: in black and white
word: indigo white
word: Kremnitz white
word: Krems white
word: Land of the Long White Cloud
taxonomic: Pieris brassicae
word: large white
word: lead white
word: lesser white-fronted goose
word: lethal white syndrome
word: like white on rice
word: lily-white
word: little white lie
word: little white mushroom
word: little white shakers syndrome
word: long white radish
word: man in white
word: marbled white
word: mark-white
word: mark with a white stone
word: mean white
word: men in white coats
word: Mexican white pine
word: milk-white
word: missing white girl syndrome
word: missing white woman syndrome
word: multiple evanescent white dot syndrome
word: Navajo white
word: non-white
word: normally white
word: Nottingham white
word: off white
word: offwhite
word: off-white
word: Oregon white oak
word: Panamanian white-faced capuchin
word: Paris white
word: pass up like a white chip
word: pearl white
word: permanent white
word: picture white
word: play the white man
word: poor white trash
word: pro-white
word: Prussian white
word: raise the white flag
word: Russian winter white dwarf hamster
word: scared white
word: show the white feather
word: show the white flag
word: silver white
word: silvery-white
word: slate white
word: small white
word: Snow White
word: snow white
word: snow-white
word: sounds about white
word: Spanish white
word: swamp white oak
word: talk to God on the big white telephone
word: talk to Ralph on the big white telephone
word: television white
word: the other white meat
word: time-white
word: TV white
word: Vale of White Horse
word: Venetian white
word: vibration white finger
word: Vienna white
word: visual white
word: wash a blackamoor white
word: wash a negro white
word: water-white
word: water white
word: wave the white flag
word: white adipose tissue
word: white admiral
word: white alder
word: white alkali
word: white America
word: white amur
word: white antelope
word: white-anting
word: white ant
word: white-ant
word: white appliance
word: white area
word: white arm
word: white arsenic
word: white arsenic oxide
word: white as a ghost
word: white as a sheet
word: white asbestos
word: white as driven snow
word: white ash
word: white as snow
word: white as the driven snow
word: White Australia Policy
word: white-backed
word: white-backed black tit
word: white bacon
word: whitebait
word: white balance
word: White Ball
word: White Ball
word: white ball
word: white-ball
word: white bass
word: White Beach
word: white-beaked
word: white-beaked dolphin
word: white beak-sedge
word: white beaksedge
word: white bear
word: whitebeard
word: white-bearded
word: white-bearded antshrike
word: white bear problem
word: white beech
word: white-bellied
word: white-bellied nothura
word: white-bellied pitohui
word: white-bellied rat
word: white-bellied sea eagle
word: white-bellied tit
word: white belt
word: white-billed
word: white-billed diver
word: white birch
word: white blood
word: white blood cell
word: white blood corpuscle
word: white-blue-white
word: white-blue-white flag
word: whiteboard
word: white boat
word: white book
word: white-box
word: white-box testing
word: white boy
word: white boy wasted
word: white brass
word: white-bread
word: white bread
word: whitebread
word: white bream
word: white-breasted
word: white-breasted hawk
word: white-breasted nuthatch
taxonomic: Haliaeetus leucogaster
word: white-breasted sea eagle
word: white-breasted waterhen
word: white-browed
word: white-browed guan
word: white-browed tit
word: white-browed woodswallow
taxonomic: Bryonia alba
word: white bryony
word: white cabbage
word: white campion
word: white cane
word: whitecap
word: white cap
word: white carbohydrate
word: white carbs
word: white card
word: white carrot
word: white cedar
word: white cell
word: white cheese polypore
word: white chicory
word: white chili
word: white chip
word: white chlorophyll
word: white chocolate
word: white choker
word: white Christmas
word: white Christmas slice
word: white cider
word: White City
word: White Cliff
word: white cloud
word: White Cloud
word: white clover
word: white coal
word: white coat effect
word: white-coater
word: white coat high blood pressure
word: white-coat hypertension
word: white coat hypertension
word: white coat rule
word: white coat syndrome
word: white-coat
word: white coat
word: whitecoat
word: white cockatoo
word: white coffee
word: white-collar boxing
word: white-collar crime
word: white-collar criminal
word: white-collar
word: white collar
word: white-collar work
word: white-collar worker
word: White Colne
word: white copper
word: white corn
word: white corpuscle
word: white crane
word: white crane style
taxonomic: Pomoxis annularis
word: white crappie
word: white-crested
word: white-crested spadebill
word: white croaker
word: white crop
word: white cross
word: white-crowned
word: white-crowned plover
word: white-crowned shrike
taxonomic: Zonotrichia leucophrys
word: white-crowned sparrow
word: white-currant
word: white currant
word: whitedamp
word: White Deer
word: white devil
word: white dirt
word: white dog shaker syndrome
word: white dot syndrome
word: white dwarf
word: white-ear
word: white-eared
word: white-eared parakeet
word: white Easter
word: white-edged
word: white-edged hunter hawkmoth
word: white eel
word: white elephant
word: white elephant sale
word: White émigré
word: white English bulldog
word: White Ensign
word: white-eye
word: white-eyed attila
word: white-eyed gull
word: White Eyes
word: whiteface
word: white-faced
word: white-faced capuchin monkey
taxonomic: Egretta novaehollandiae
word: white-faced heron
word: white fat
word: white feather
word: white fever
word: white fir
word: whitefish
word: white-fish
word: white flag
word: white-fleshed
word: white-fleshed sweet potato
word: white flight
word: white-flippered
word: white-flippered penguin
word: white flour
word: white flux
word: whitefly
word: white-footed
word: white-footed fox
taxonomic: Peromyscus leucopus
word: white-footed mouse
word: white fox
word: white fragility
word: white friar
word: white-fringed
word: white-fringed pyrausta moth
word: white frog orchid
word: white-fronted
word: white-fronted goose
word: white-fronted tit
word: white frost
word: white fuming nitric acid
word: white fungus
word: white-gaped
word: white-gaped honeyeater
word: white gas
word: white gasoline
word: white genocide
word: white gentian
word: white ginger
word: white-girl wasted
word: white girl
word: white-girl
word: white-glove
word: white-glove building
word: white-glove service
word: white-glove test
word: white glove test
word: white goat
word: white gold
word: white goods
word: white goosefoot
word: white gourd
word: white graft
word: white grape
word: white gravy
taxonomic: Eucalyptus spp.
word: white guilt white gum
word: white gum poison
word: white-haired
word: White Hall
word: Whitehall
word: white-handed
word: white-handed gibbon
word: white-handedly
word: white-handedness
word: white handled knife
word: White Hart Lane
word: white hat
word: white hawk
word: white-headed
word: white-headed babbler
word: white-headed duck
word: white-headed eagle
word: white-headed vulture
word: white-heart
word: white heat
word: white henbane
word: white herring
word: white hog
word: white hole
word: white honeysuckle
word: white hope
word: White Horde
word: white horse
word: white hot
word: white-hot
word: White House
word: white hunter
word: white ibis
word: white inflation theory
word: white information
word: white iron
word: White Island
word: White Karen
word: white knight
word: white-knight
word: white-knuckle ride
word: white knuckle ride
word: white-knuckle
word: white knuckle
word: White Kulaman
word: white label
word: white-label
word: white lady
word: white lady tears
word: white land
word: white lash
word: white-lash
word: white latten
word: white lead
word: white lead ore
word: white leather
word: white leg
word: white-letter
word: white-letter hairstreak
word: white lettuce
word: white lie
word: white light
word: white lightning
word: white lime
word: white line
word: white line disease
word: white-lined sphinx
word: white line fever
word: white lion
word: white-lipped
word: white-lipped peccary
word: white-lipped snail
word: white list
word: white-livered
word: white livered
word: white lives matter
word: white lobster
word: whitely
word: white maggot
word: white magic
word: white magician
word: white magick
word: white mahogany
word: White Man
word: white man
word: White man
word: white mangrove
word: white man's burden
word: white man's grave
word: white margate
word: white market
word: white marlin
word: white marriage
word: white martyrdom
word: white matter
word: white meat
word: white metal
word: white mica
word: white micrathena
word: white millet
word: white money
word: white monkey
word: White Mountain
word: White Mountains
word: white mulberry
word: white muscle disease
word: white musk
taxonomic: Sinapis alba
word: white mustard
word: white-naped
word: white-naped crane
word: white-naped tit
word: white-naped xenopsaris
word: white nationalism
word: white nationalist
word: white nebula
word: white-necked myna
word: white negro
word: white nigger
word: white night
word: white noddy
word: white noise
word: white-nosed
word: white-nosed coati
word: white nose syndrome
word: white note
word: White Notley
word: white nougat
word: white nutmeg pigeon
word: white oak
word: white oak tree
word: white oakum
word: white on rice
word: white-on-white
word: white-out
word: white owl
word: white pages
word: white paper
word: white-paper
word: white party
word: white pea bean
word: white peace
word: white pee
word: white pepper
word: white perch
word: white petrolatum
word: white phosphorus
word: white picket fence
word: white pickle
word: white pie
word: white pill
word: white pine
word: white pizza
word: white plague
word: White Plains
word: white-plumed
word: white-plumed honeyeater
word: white-point
word: white pointer
word: white pomfret
word: white popinac
word: white poplar
word: white-pot
word: white potato
word: white power
word: white precipitate
word: white pride
word: white privilege
word: white privileged
word: white propaganda
word: white pudding
word: white pyrites
word: white quandong
word: white rabbit
word: white rabbits
word: white radio
word: white radish
word: white rainbow
word: white rattlesnake root
word: white rent
word: white replacement theory
word: White Revolution
word: white rhino
word: white rhinoceros
word: white rhubarb
word: white rice
word: white rider
word: White River
word: white roe
word: white room
word: white rot
word: whiter than white
word: white-rumped
word: white-rumped hawk
word: white-rumped sandpiper
word: White Rus
word: White Russian
word: white rust
word: White Ruthenia
word: whites
word: white sage
word: white sale
word: white salmon
word: white salt
word: white sapote
word: white sapphire
word: white satin
word: white sauce
word: white saviorism
word: white scavenger vulture
word: white scour
word: white screen of death
word: White Sea
word: white seaperch
word: white shark
word: white sheep
word: white shield
word: white-shirt
word: white-shoe
word: white-shoe firm
word: white-shouldered
word: white-shouldered antshrike
word: white-shouldered black tit
word: white-shouldered fairywren
word: white-sick
word: white-sided
taxonomic: Lagenorhynchus spp.
word: white-sided dolphin
word: White Sister
word: white skin privilege
word: white slave
word: white slaver
word: white slavery
word: white-slaving
word: white slaw
word: white slime
word: whitesmith
word: white smoke
word: white smoker
word: white smoothie
word: white snakeroot
word: white snow
word: white soda
word: white sole
word: white soul
word: white space
word: white Spanish broom
word: white spirit
word: white-spot disease
word: white spot syndrome
word: white-spot
word: white spot
word: white spruce
word: white squall
word: white steenbras
word: white stick
word: white stork
word: white stout
word: white stuff
word: white sturgeon
word: white sugar
word: White Sulphur Springs
word: white supremacism
word: white-supremacist
word: white supremacist
word: white supremacy
word: white sweet potato
word: white swelling
word: white-tablecloth
word: white-tablecloth restaurant
word: white-tailed
word: white-tailed blue flycatcher
word: white-tailed deer
word: white-tailed eagle
word: white-tailed hawk
word: white-tailed jackrabbit
word: white-tailed lapwing
word: white-tailed plover
word: white-tailed ptarmigan
word: white-tailed sea eagle
word: white-tailed shrike
word: white tansy
word: white tape
word: white tea
word: white teak
word: white tears
word: white telephone
word: white-telephone
word: white tern
word: white terror
word: white-throated
word: white-throated dipper
word: white-throated hawk
word: white-throated kingfisher
word: white-throated magpie-jay
word: white-throated needletail
word: white-throated rail
word: white-throated robin
word: white-throated sparrow
word: white-throated tinamou
word: white-throat
word: whitethroat
word: White Thursday
word: white-tie
word: white tie
word: white tiger
word: white tin
word: white-tip
word: white tongue
word: white top-hat transform
word: whitetopia
word: white trash
word: white trashery
word: white-trashery
word: white-trashy
word: white trashy
word: white trillium
word: white truffle
word: white turmeric
word: white turpentine
word: white turtlehead
word: white up
word: white van man
word: white van speakers
word: white vinegar
word: white vitriol
word: white wagtail
word: whitewall
word: whitewall tire
word: white walnut
word: whitewash
word: white water lily
word: whitewater rafting
word: white-water rafting
word: white water rafting
word: white-water
word: white water
word: whitewater
word: white wedding
word: white week
word: white whale
word: white willow
word: white-winged
word: white-winged black tit
word: white-winged coot
word: white-winged crossbill
word: white-winged dove
word: white-winged fairywren
word: white-winged parakeet
word: white-winged scoter
word: white-winged tern
word: white witch
word: white wizard
word: white wolf
word: white woman tears
word: white women's tears
word: white women tears
word: white worm
word: white zinfandel
word: white zone
word: winter white Russian hamster
word: wood white
word: yellow-white
word: Yorkshire white
word: yt
word: zinc white
Related terms: whitebeam
whiten
whiteness
whiteness studies
whitish