Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

White

(hwīt)

Adj.

[

Com

par.

Whiter

(hwīt′ẽr)

;

sup

erl.

Whitest

[OE.

whit

, AS.

hwīt

; akin to OFries. and OS.

hwīt

, D.

wit

, G.

weiss

, OHG.

wīz

hwīz

, Icel.

hvītr

, Sw.

hvit

, Dan.

hvid

, Goth.

hweits

, Lith.

szveisti

, to make bright, Russ.

sviet’

light, Skr.

çvēta

white,

çvit

to be bright. √42. Cf.

Wheat

Whitsunday

Reflecting to the eye all the rays of the spectrum combined; not tinted with any of the proper colors or their mixtures; having the color of pure snow; snowy; – the opposite of

black

dark

;

as,

white

paper; a

white

skin

“Pearls white.”

Chaucer.

White as the

whitest

lily on a stream.

Longfellow.

Destitute of color, as in the cheeks, or of the tinge of blood color; pale; pallid;

as,

white

with fear

Or whispering with

white

lips, “The foe!
They come! they come!”

Byron.

Having the color of purity; free from spot or blemish, or from guilt or pollution; innocent; pure.

White

as thy fame, and as thy honor clear.

Dryden.

whiter

page than Addison's remains.

Pope.

Gray, as from age; having silvery hair; hoary.

Your high engendered battles 'gainst a head
So old and

white

as this.

Shakespeare

Characterized by freedom from that which disturbs, and the like; fortunate; happy; favorable.

On the whole, however, the dominie reckoned this as one of the

white

days of his life.

Sir W. Scott.

Regarded with especial favor; favorite; darling.

Come forth, my

white

spouse.

Chaucer.

I am his

white

boy, and will not be gullet.

Ford.

☞ White is used in many self-explaining compounds, as white-backed, white-bearded, white-footed.

White alder

(Bot.)

See

Sweet pepper bush

, under

Pepper

–

White ant

(Zool.)

any one of numerous species of social pseudoneuropterous insects of the genus

Termes

. These insects are very abundant in tropical countries, and form large and complex communities consisting of numerous asexual workers of one or more kinds, of large-headed asexual individuals called soldiers, of one or more queens (or fertile females) often having the body enormously distended by the eggs, and, at certain seasons of numerous winged males, together with the larvae and pupae of each kind in various stages of development. Many of the species construct large and complicated nests, sometimes in the form of domelike structures rising several feet above the ground and connected with extensive subterranean galleries and chambers. In their social habits they closely resemble the true ants. They feed upon animal and vegetable substances of various kinds, including timber, and are often very destructive to buildings and furniture.

–

White arsenic

(Chem.)

arsenious oxide,

As2O3

, a substance of a white color, and vitreous adamantine luster, having an astringent, sweetish taste. It is a deadly poison.

–

White bass

(Zool.)

a fresh-water North American bass (

Roccus chrysops

) found in the Great Likes.

–

White bear

(Zool.)

the polar bear. See under

Polar

–

White blood cell

(Physiol.)

See

Leucocyte

–

White brand

(Zool.)

the snow goose.

–

White brass

a white alloy of copper; white copper.

–

White campion

(Bot.)

(a)

A kind of catchfly (

Silene stellata

) with white flowers.

(b)

A white-flowered Lychnis (

Lychnis vespertina

–

White canon

(R. C. Ch.)

a Premonstratensian.

–

White caps

the members of a secret organization in various of the United States, who attempt to drive away or reform obnoxious persons by lynch-law methods. They appear masked in white. Their actions resembled those of the Ku Klux Klan in some ways but they were not formally affiliated with the Klan, and their victims were often not black.

–

White cedar

(Bot.)

an evergreen tree of

North America

(

Thuja occidentalis

), also the related

Cupressus thyoides

, or

Chamaecyparis sphaeroidea

, a slender evergreen conifer which grows in the so-called cedar swamps of the

Northern and Atlantic States

. Both are much valued for their durable timber. In

California

the name is given to the

Libocedrus decurrens

, the timber of which is also useful, though often subject to dry rot.

Goodale.

The white cedar of Demerara, Guiana, etc., is a lofty tree (

Icica altissima

syn.

Bursera altissima

) whose fragrant wood is used for canoes and cabinetwork, as it is not attacked by insect.

–

White cell

(Physiol.)

See

Leucocyte

–

White cell-blood

(Med.)

leucocythaemia.

–

White clover

(Bot.)

a species of small perennial clover bearing white flowers. It furnishes excellent food for cattle and horses, as well as for the honeybee. See also under

Clover

–

White copper

a whitish alloy of copper. See

German silver

, under

German

–

White copperas

(Min.)

a native hydrous sulphate of iron; coquimbite.

–

White coral

(Zool.)

an ornamental branched coral (

Amphihelia oculata

) native of the Mediterranean.

–

White corpuscle

(Physiol.)

See

Leucocyte

–

White cricket

(Zool.)

the tree cricket.

–

White crop

a crop of grain which loses its green color, or becomes white, in ripening, as wheat, rye, barley, and oats, as distinguished from a green crop, or a root crop.

–

White currant

(Bot.)

a variety of the common red currant, having white berries.

–

White daisy

(Bot.)

the oxeye daisy. See under

Daisy

–

White damp

a kind of poisonous gas encountered in coal mines.

Raymond.

–

White elephant

(Zool.)

(a)

a whitish, or albino, variety of the Asiatic elephant.

(b)

see

white elephant

in the vocabulary.

–

White elm

(Bot.)

a majestic tree of North America (

Ulmus Americana

), the timber of which is much used for hubs of wheels, and for other purposes.

–

White ensign

See

Saint George's ensign

, under

Saint

–

White feather

a mark or symbol of cowardice. See

To show the white feather

, under

Feather

Noun.

–

White fir

(Bot.)

a name given to several coniferous trees of the Pacific States, as

Abies grandis

, and

Abies concolor

–

White flesher

(Zool.)

the ruffed grouse. See under

Ruffed

[Canada]

–

White frost

See

Hoarfrost

–

White game

(Zool.)

the white ptarmigan.

–

White garnet

(Min.)

leucite.

–

White grass

(Bot.)

an American grass (

Leersia Virginica

) with greenish-white paleae.

–

White grouse

(Zool.)

(a)

The white ptarmigan.

(b)

The prairie chicken.

[Local, U. S.]

–

White grub

(Zool.)

the larva of the June bug and other allied species. These grubs eat the roots of grasses and other plants, and often do much damage.

–

White hake

(Zool.)

the squirrel hake. See under

Squirrel

–

White hawk

, or

White kite

(Zool.)

the hen harrier.

–

White heat

the temperature at which bodies become incandescent, and appear white from the bright light which they emit.

–

White hellebore

(Bot.)

a plant of the genus

Veratrum

(

Veratrum album

) See

Hellebore

, 2.

–

White herring

a fresh, or unsmoked, herring, as distinguished from a red, or cured, herring.

[R.]

Shak.

–

White hoolet

(Zool.)

the barn owl.

[Prov. Eng.]

–

White horses

(Naut.)

white-topped waves; whitecaps.

–

The White House

See under

House

–

White ibis

(Zool.)

an American ibis (

Guara alba

) having the plumage pure white, except the tips of the wings, which are black. It inhabits tropical America and the Southern United States. Called also

Spanish curlew

–

White iron

(a)

Thin sheets of iron coated with tin; tinned iron.

(b)

A hard, silvery-white cast iron containing a large proportion of combined carbon.

–

White iron pyrites

(Min.)

marcasite.

–

White land

a tough clayey soil, of a whitish hue when dry, but blackish after rain.

[Eng.]

–

White lark

(Zool.)

the snow bunting.

–

White lead

(a)

A carbonate of lead much used in painting, and for other purposes; ceruse.

(b)

(Min.)

Native lead carbonate; cerusite.

–

White leather

buff leather; leather tanned with alum and salt.

–

White leg

(Med.)

milk leg. See under

Milk

–

White lettuce

(Bot.)

rattlesnake root. See under

Rattlesnake

–

White lie

See under

Lie

–

White light

(a)

(Physics)

Light having the different colors in the same proportion as in the light coming directly from the sun, without having been decomposed, as by passing through a prism. See the Note under

Color

Noun.

, 1.

(b)

A kind of firework which gives a brilliant white illumination for signals, etc.

–

White lime

a solution or preparation of lime for whitewashing; whitewash.

–

White line

(Print.)

a void space of the breadth of a line, on a printed page; a blank line.

–

White meat

(a)

Any light-colored flesh, especially of poultry.

(b)

Food made from milk or eggs, as butter, cheese, etc.

Driving their cattle continually with them, and feeding only upon their milk and

white meats

Spenser.

–

White merganser

(Zool.)

the smew.

–

White metal

(a)

Any one of several white alloys, as pewter, britannia, etc.

(b)

(Metal.)

A fine grade of copper sulphide obtained at a certain stage in copper smelting.

–

White miller

(Zool.)

(a)

The common clothes moth.

(b)

A common American bombycid moth (

Spilosoma Virginica

) which is pure white with a few small black spots; – called also

ermine moth

, and

virgin moth

. See

Woolly bear

, under

Woolly

–

White money

silver money.

–

White mouse

(Zool.)

the albino variety of the common mouse.

–

White mullet

(Zool.)

, a silvery mullet (

Mugil curema

) ranging from the coast of the United States to Brazil; – called also

blue-back mullet

, and

liza

. –

White nun

(Zool.)

the smew; – so called from the white crest and the band of black feathers on the back of its head, which give the appearance of a hood.

–

White oak

(Bot.)

See under

Oak

–

White owl

(Zool.)

(a)

The snowy owl.

(b)

The barn owl.

–

White partridge

(Zool.)

the white ptarmigan.

–

White perch

(Zool.)

(a)

A North American fresh-water bass (

Morone Americana

) valued as a food fish.

(b)

The croaker, or fresh-water drum.

(c)

Any California surf fish.

–

White pine

(Bot.)

See the Note under

Pine

–

White poplar

(Bot.)

a European tree (

Populus alba

) often cultivated as a shade tree in America; abele.

–

White poppy

(Bot.)

the opium-yielding poppy. See

Poppy

–

White powder

a kind of gunpowder formerly believed to exist, and to have the power of exploding without noise.

[Obs.]

A pistol charged with

white powder

Beau. & Fl.

–

White precipitate

(Old Chem.)

See under

Precipitate

. –

White rabbit

(Zool.)

(a)

The American northern hare in its winter pelage.

(b)

An albino rabbit.

–

White rent

(a)

(Eng. Law)

Formerly, rent payable in silver; – opposed to black rent. See

Blackmail

Noun.

, 3.

(b)

A rent, or duty, of eight pence, payable yearly by every tinner in Devon and Cornwall to the Duke of Cornwall, as lord of the soil.

[Prov. Eng.]

–

White rhinoceros

(Zool.)

(a)

The one-horned, or Indian, rhinoceros (

Rhinoceros Indicus

). See

Rhinoceros

(b)

The umhofo.

–

White ribbon

the distinctive badge of certain organizations for the promotion of temperance or of moral purity;

as, the

White-ribbon

Army

–

White rope

(Naut.)

untarred hemp rope.

–

White rot

(Bot.)

(a)

Either of several plants, as marsh pennywort and butterwort, which were thought to produce the disease called rot in sheep.

(b)

A disease of grapes. See

White rot

, under

Rot

–

White sage

(Bot.)

a white, woolly undershrub (

Eurotia lanata

) of Western North America; – called also

winter fat

–

White salmon

(Zool.)

the silver salmon.

–

White salt

salt dried and calcined; decrepitated salt.

–

White scale

(Zool.)

a scale insect (

Aspidiotus Nerii

) injurious to the orange tree. See

Orange scale

, under

Orange

–

White shark

(Zool.)

a species of man-eating shark.

See under

Shark

. –

White softening

(Med.)

See

Softening of the brain

, under

Softening

–

White spruce

(Bot.)

See

Spruce

Noun.

, 1.

–

White squall

(Naut.)

a sudden gust of wind, or furious blow, which comes up without being marked in its approach otherwise than by whitecaps, or white, broken water, on the surface of the sea.

–

White staff

the badge of the lord high treasurer of England.

Macaulay.

–

White stork

(Zool.)

the common European stork.

–

White sturgeon

(Zool.)

See

Shovelnose

(d)

–

White sucker

(Zool.)

(a)

The common sucker.

(b)

The common red horse (

Moxostoma macrolepidotum

–

White swelling

(Med.)

a chronic swelling of the knee, produced by a strumous inflammation of the synovial membranes of the kneejoint and of the cancellar texture of the end of the bone forming the kneejoint; – applied also to a lingering chronic swelling of almost any kind.

–

White tombac

See

Tombac

–

White trout

(Zool.)

the white weakfish, or silver squeteague (

Cynoscion nothus

), of the Southern United States.

–

White vitriol

(Chem.)

hydrous sulphate of zinc. See

White vitriol

, under

Vitriol

–

White wagtail

(Zool.)

the common, or pied, wagtail.

–

White wax

beeswax rendered white by bleaching.

–

White whale

(Zool.)

the beluga.

–

White widgeon

(Zool.)

the smew.

–

White wine

any wine of a clear, transparent color, bordering on white, as Madeira, sherry, Lisbon, etc.; – distinguished from wines of a deep red color, as port and Burgundy.

“White wine of Lepe.”

Chaucer.

–

White witch

a witch or wizard whose supernatural powers are supposed to be exercised for good and beneficent purposes.

Addison.

Cotton Mather.

–

White wolf

(Zool.)

(a)

A light-colored wolf (

Canis laniger

) native of Thibet; – called also

chanco

golden wolf

, and

Thibetan wolf

(b)

The albino variety of the gray wolf.

–

White wren

(Zool.)

the willow warbler; – so called from the color of the under parts.

White

Noun.

The color of pure snow; one of the natural colors of bodies, yet not strictly a color, but a composition of all colors; the opposite of black; whiteness. See the Note under

Color

Noun.

, 1.

Finely attired in a of

white

Shakespeare

Something having the color of snow; something white, or nearly so;

as, the

white

of the eye

Specifically, the central part of the butt in archery, which was formerly painted white; the center of a mark at which a missile is shot.

'T was I won the wager, though you hit the

white

Shakespeare

A person with a white skin; a member of the white, or Caucasian, races of men.

A white pigment;

as, Venice

white

(Zool.)

Any one of numerous species of butterflies belonging to

Pieris

, and allied genera in which the color is usually white. See

Cabbage butterfly

, under

Cabbage

Black and white

See under

Black

–

Flake white

Paris white

, etc.

See under

Flack

Paris

, etc.

–

White of a seed

(Bot.)

the albumen. See

Albumen

, 2.

–

White of egg

the viscous pellucid fluid which surrounds the yolk in an egg, particularly in the egg of a fowl. In a hen's egg it is alkaline, and contains about 86 per cent of water and 14 per cent of solid matter, the greater portion of which is egg albumin. It likewise contains a small amount of globulin, and traces of fats and sugar, with some inorganic matter. Heated above 60° C. it coagulates to a solid mass, owing to the albumin which it contains.

Parr.

–

White of the eye

(Anat.)

the white part of the ball of the eye surrounding the transparent cornea.

White

Verb.

[

imp. & p. p.

Whited

;

p. pr. & vb. n.

Whiting

[AS.

hwītan

To make white; to whiten; to whitewash; to bleach.

Whited

sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of . . . uncleanness.

Matt. xxiii. 27.

So as no fuller on earth can

white

them.

Mark. ix. 3.

Webster 1828 Edition

White

WHITE

Adj.

[G.]

Being in the color of pure snow; snowy; not dark; as white paper; a white skin.

Pale; destitute of color in the cheeks, or of the tinge of blood color; as white with fear.

Having the color of purity; pure; clean; free from spot; as white robed innocence.

Gray; as white hair; a venerable man, white with age.

Pure; unblemished.

No whiter page than Addisons remains.

In a scriptural sense, purified from sin; sanctified. Psalm 51.

Definition 2024

White

See also: white

English

Proper noun

White

A common surname.

Derived terms

Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome

Adjective

White ‎(not comparable)

Alternative letter-case form of white (of or relating to Europeans or Caucasians)

Anagrams

withe

white

See also: White

English

Six chess pieces, four white and two black.

A mountain covered in white snow.

A Pieris butterfly.

A glass of white wine.

An egg yolk surrounded by the egg white.

A white woman.

A white man.

Alternative forms

whight, whyte, whyght (obsolete)

Adjective

white ‎(comparative whiter, superlative whitest)

Bright and colourless; reflecting equal quantities of all frequencies of visible light.
Write in black ink on white paper.‎
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
  white as the whitest lily on a stream.
- 1962 (quoting 1381 text), Hans Kurath & Sherman M. Kuhn, eds., Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, ISBN 978-0-472-01044-8, page 1242:
  dorrẹ̅, dōrī adj. & n. […] cook. glazed with a yellow substance; pome(s ~, sopes ~. […] 1381 Pegge Cook. Recipes page 114: For to make Soupys dorry. Nym onyons […] Nym wyn […] toste wyte bred and do yt in dischis, and god Almande mylk.
(sometimes capitalized) Of or relating to Caucasians, people of European descent with light-coloured skin.
- 1949, Wendell P. Alston, “The Green Book”, in The Negro Motorist Green Book, 1949 edition, New York: Victor H. Green, page 3:
  […] more white corporations cognizant of the mounting purchasing power of the Negro consumer, have Negro representatives in the field […].
(chiefly historical) Designated for use by Caucasians.
white drinking fountain; white hospital‎
Relatively light or pale in colour.
white wine; white grapes‎
Pale or pallid, as from fear, illness, etc.
- Lord Byron (1788-1824)
  Or whispering with white lips, "The foe! / They come! they come!"
(of a person or skin) Lacking coloration (tan) from ultraviolet light; not tanned.
(of coffee or tea) Containing cream, milk, or creamer.
(board games, chess) The standard denomination of the playing pieces of a board game deemed to belong to the white set, no matter what the actual colour.
The white pieces in this set are in fact made of light green glass.‎
Pertaining to an ecclesiastical order whose adherents dress in white habits; Cistercian.
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter ix, in Le Morte Darthur, book XIII:
  NOw rydeth Galahalt yet withouten shelde / and so rode four dayes without ony aduenture / And at the fourth day after euensonge / he came to a whyte Abbay / and there was he receyued with grete reuerence / and ledde vnto a chambre / and there was he vnarmed / And thenne was he ware of knyghtes of the table round
Honourable, fair; decent.
- John Dryden (1631-1700)
  White as thy fame, and as thy honour clear.
- Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
  No whiter page than Addison's remains.
- 1901, Hamlin Garland, Her Mountain Lover, page 51:
  “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.”
- G. K. Chesterton
  I trust Lionel. He got me out; he'll see I don't get in again. You must known Lionel. He's a white man all through, and the prison that can hold him has got to be made.
- 1953, Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye, Penguin, 2010, p.12:
  ‘We've only met twice and you've been more than white to me both times.’
- 1976, United Church of Christ, A.D., number 1, page 34:
  Even decency has been regarded as a white or Christian attribute, as is evidenced by the expression "that's very white of you"
Grey, as from old age; having silvery hair; hoary.
- William Shakespeare (c.1564–1616)
  Your high engendered battles 'gainst a head / So old and white as this.
(archaic) Characterized by freedom from that which disturbs, and the like; fortunate; happy; favourable.
- Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)
  On the whole, however, the dominie reckoned this as one of the white days of his life.
(obsolete) Regarded with especial favour; favourite; darling.
- Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1343-1400)
  Come forth, my white spouse.
- John Ford (1586-c.1639)
  I am his white boy, and will not be gulled.
(politics) Pertaining to constitutional or anti-revolutionary political parties or movements.
- 1932, Duff Cooper, Talleyrand, Folio Society, 2010, p.163:
  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.
(of tea) Made from immature leaves and shoots.
- 2012, Mary Lou Heiss & Robert J. Heiss, The Tea Enthusiast's Handbook, ISBN 1607743787:
  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.
(typography) Not containing characters; see white space.
(typography) Said of a symbol or character outline, not solid, not filled with color. Compare black ‎(“said of a character or symbol filled with color”).
Compare two Unicode symbols: ☞ = "WHITE RIGHT POINTING INDEX"; ☛ = BLACK RIGHT POINTING INDEX

Antonyms

(bright and colourless): black, nonwhite, unwhite
(of coffee): black
(lacking coloration): tanned

Synonyms

(lacking coloration): fair, pale

Translations

bright and colourless

Abkhaz: ашкәакәа ‎(āšḳwāḳwā)
Acehnese: puteh
Adyghe: фыжьы ‎(fəž̍ə)
Afrikaans: wit (af)
Albanian: bardhë (sq)
Alviri-Vidari: (Vidari) ایسبی ‎(isbi), ایسپی ‎(ispi)
American Sign Language: 5@Chest-PalmBack FlatO@NearChest-PalmBack
Amharic: ነጭ ‎(näč̣)
Arabic: أَبْيَض (ar) m ‎(ʾabyaḍ), بَيْضَاء f ‎(bayḍāʾ), بِيض pl ‎(bīḍ)
Armenian: սպիտակ (hy) ‎(spitak)
Aromanian: albu (roa-rup)
Asháninka: kitamaari
Asturian: blancu
Atikamekw: wapaw
Aymara: janq’u
Azeri: ağ (az)
Bakhtiari: اسپید ‎(espēð)
Bashkir: аҡ ‎(aq)
Basque: zuri
Belarusian: бе́лы ‎(bjély)
Bengali: সাদা ‎(shada)
Breton: gwenn (br)
Buginese: ma-pute
Bulgarian: бял (bg) ‎(bjal)
Burmese: ဖြူ (my) ‎(hpru), ဖွေး (my) ‎(hpwe:)
Catalan: blanc (ca)
Cebuano: puti
Central Atlas Tamazight: ⴰⵎⵍⵍⴰⵍ m ‎(aməllæl)
Chamicuro: kamalawa
Chechen: кӏайн ‎(ḳajn)
Cherokee: ᎤᏁᎬ ‎(unegv)
Chinese:

Cantonese: 白 ‎(baak⁶)

Mandarin: 白 (zh) ‎(bái), 白色 (zh) ‎(báisè)

Min Dong: 白 ‎(bak)

Wu: 白 ‎(bah), 白颜色 ‎(bah-ngae-seh)
Choctaw: tohbi
Chuvash: шурӑ ‎(šură)
Cornish: gwydn, gwynn
Corsican: biancu (co)
Czech: bílý (cs) m
Dalmatian: jualb, blank
Danish: hvid (da)
Dogrib: degoo
Dolgan: чээлкээ ‎(çeelkee)
Dutch: wit (nl)
Esperanto: blanka (eo)
Estonian: valge (et)
Faroese: hvítur
Fijian: ^{(please verify)}vula vula
Finnish: valkoinen (fi), valkea (fi)
French: blanc (fr)
Friulian: blanc
Gagauz: ak
Galician: branco (gl)
Georgian: თეთრი (ka) ‎(tetri)
German: weiß (de), weiss (de) (Switzerland)

Old High German: wīz

Alemannic German: wiiss
Gilbertese: mái
Gothic: 𐍈𐌴𐌹𐍄𐍃 ‎(ƕeits), 𐌱𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌺𐍃 ‎(blagks), 𐌱𐌰𐌻𐍃 ‎(bals)
Greek: άσπρος (el) ‎(áspros), λευκός (el) ‎(lefkós)
Ancient Greek: λευκός ‎(leukós)
Gujarati: સફેદ (gu) ‎(saphed)
Haitian Creole: blan
Hausa: feri
Hawaiian: kea, keʻokeʻo
Hebrew: לבן (he) ‎(laván)
Hindi: सफ़ेद ‎(safed)
Hopi: qöötsa
Hungarian: fehér (hu)
Icelandic: hvítur (is)
Ido: blanka (io)
Indonesian: putih (id)
Ingrian: valkia
Interlingua: blanc (ia)
Interlingue:
Irish: bán (ga)
Istriot: bianco
Istro-Romanian: åb
Italian: bianco (it)
Japanese: 白い (ja) ‎(しろい, shiroi), 白色の (ja) ‎(はくしょくの, hakushoku no)
Javanese: putih (jv), petak (jv), pět.ak
Norman: blianc
Kannada: ಬಿಳಿ (kn) ‎(biḷi)
Kazakh: ақ (kk) ‎(aq)
Khakas: ах ‎(ax)
Khmer: ស (km) ‎(sɑɑ)
Kongo: mpembe
Korean: 희다 (ko) ‎(huida) (predicative), 흰 (ko) ‎(huin) (attributive)
Kurdish:

Kurmanji: spî (ku), vebiye (ku)

Sorani: سپی ‎(spî)
Kyrgyz: ак (ky) ‎(ak)
Lao: ຂາວ (lo) ‎(khāo)
Latgalian: bolts, boltons
Latin: albus (la), candidus (la)
Latvian: balts (lv) m
Lezgi: лацу ‎(lacu)
Lingala: mpɛ́mbɛ́
Lithuanian: baltas (lt)
Low German:
German Low German: witt (nds)
Luxembourgish: wäiss
Macedonian: бел ‎(bel)
Madurese: pote
Makasar: kɛboʔ
Malagasy: tapotsiny (mg), fotsy (mg)
Malay: putih (ms), puteh, abiad (ms), abyad (ms)
Jawi: ڤوتيه, ابيض
Malayalam: വെളുത്ത (ml) ‎(veḷutta)
Maltese: abjad (mt) m, bajda f, bojod pl
Manchu: ᡧᠠᠩᡤᡳᠶᠠᠨ ‎(šanggiyan)
Manx: bane

Maori: tea (mi), maa
Marathi: पांढरा ‎(pāṇḍhrā)
Mazanderani: اسپه
Megleno-Romanian: alb
Meänkieli: valkea
Minangkabau: putiah
Mirandese: branco
Mongolian: цагаан (mn) ‎(tsagaan)
Classical Mongolian: ᠴᠠᠭᠠᠨ ‎(čaγan)
Nafaanra: finge
Nahuatl: iztāc (nah)
Nama: ǃuri
Navajo: łigai
Neapolitan: janco
Nepali:
Ngazidja Comorian: -eu
Nias: fusi
Norwegian:

Bokmål: hvit (no), kvit

Nynorsk: kvit
Northern Sami: vielgat
Novial: blanki
O'odham: toha
Occitan: blanc
Old Church Slavonic: бѣлъ ‎(bělŭ)
Old Dutch: wīt
Old English: hwīt
Old French: blanc
Old Frisian: hwīt
Old Irish: bán, finn, gel
Old Norse: hvítr
Old Provençal: blanc
Old Saxon: hwīt
Old Turkic: 𐰇𐰼𐰭 ‎(ürüŋ), 𐰀𐰴 ‎(āq)
Oriya:
Ossetian: урс ‎(urs)
Ottoman Turkish: آق ‎(ak), بیاض ‎(beyaz)
Pashto: سپين (ps) ‎(spin)
Persian: سفید (fa) ‎(sefid)
Polabian: b’olĕ
Polish: biały (pl)
Portuguese: branco (pt)
Punjabi:
Quechua: yuraq
Rajasthani:
Rapa Nui: tea tea
Rohingya: cáda, dóla
Romani: parno
Romanian: alb (ro)
Romansch: alv
Russian: бе́лый (ru) ‎(bélyj)
Samoan: paʔepaʔe, sina, tea
Sanskrit: श्वेत (sa) ‎(śveta)
Santali: ᱯᱳᱱᱰ ‎(pondd)
Sardinian: abru, arvu, arbu, alvu, àrbiu
Sasak: putiq
Scottish Gaelic: geal
Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic: бе̏о, бије̑л, би̏о, бе̑л

Roman: bȅo (sh), bijȇl (sh), bȉo (sh), bȇl (sh)
Shona: chena
Shor: ақ ‎(aq)
Sicilian: jancu (scn), biancu (scn), vrancu (scn), viancu (scn), iancu (scn), brancu (scn)
Sindhi: اڇو ‎(ačʰo)
Sinhalese: සුදු (si) ‎(sudu)
Slovak: biely
Slovene: bel (sl)
Somali: caddaan
Sorbian:

Lower Sorbian: běły, běły

Upper Sorbian: běły (hsb)
Southern Altai: ак ‎(ak)
Spanish: blanco (es)
Sundanese: bodas
Swahili: -eupe
Swazi: mhlôphe (ss)
Swedish: vit (sv)
Tagalog: puti (tl), putiq
Tahitian: ʻuoʻuo
Tajik: сафед (tg) ‎(safed)
Tamil: வெள்ளை (ta) ‎(veḷḷai)
Tashelhit: ⴰⵎⵍⵍⴰⵍ m ‎(aməllæl), ⵓⵎⵍⵉⵍ m ‎(umlil)
Tatar: ак (tt) ‎(aq)
Telugu: తెల్లని (te) ‎(tellani)
Thai: สีขาว ‎(sĕe kăao), ขาว (th) ‎(kăao)
Tibetan: དཀར་པོ ‎(dkar po)
Tocharian A: ārki
Tocharian B: ārkwi
Tok Pisin: waitpela
Tongan: hinehina
Tswana: sweu
Turkish: ak (tr), beyaz (tr)
Turkmen: ak (tk)
Tuvaluan: tea
Tuvan: ак ‎(ak)
Ukrainian: бі́лий (uk) ‎(bílyj)
Umbrian: 𐌀𐌋𐌚𐌖 ‎(alfu)
Urdu: سفید ‎(safed)
Uyghur: ئاق (ug) ‎(aq)
Uzbek: oq (uz)
Venetian: bianco (vec), bianch
Vietnamese: trắng (vi), bạch (vi)
Volapük: vietik (vo)
Votic: valkõa
Walloon: blanc (wa)
Welsh: gwyn (cy) m, gwen (cy) f
West Frisian: wyt (fy)
Wolof: yèes-xonq
Xhosa:
Yakut: үрүҥ ‎(ürüŋ)
Yiddish: ווײַס ‎(vays)
Yoruba:
Zulu: -mhlophe

of or relating to Caucasians

Armenian: սպիտակամորթ (hy) ‎(spitakamortʿ)
Czech: bílý (cs), bělošský (cs)
Dutch: blank (nl)
Esperanto: blankula, kaŭkaza
Ewe: yevu n
Finnish: valkoinen (fi), valkoihoinen (fi)
French: blanc (fr)
German: weiß (de), weiss (de) (Switzerland)
Greek: λευκός (el) ‎(lefkós)
Hausa: bature
Hawaiian: haole
Indonesian: bule (id), orang kulit putih (id)
Italian: bianco (it)
Japanese: 白人の ‎(はくじんの, hakujin no)

Lakota: wasicu
Latvian: baltais (lv) m, baltā (lv) f
Malay: kulit putih
Novial: blanki
Portuguese: branco (pt), caucasoide, caucasiano (pt)
Punjabi: ਗੋਰਾ/ਗੋਰੀ ‎(gora/gori)
Russian: бе́лый (ru) ‎(bélyj)
Spanish: caucásico (es)
Swedish: vit (sv) c, ljushyad (sv), ljushyllt (sv)
Thai: ผิวขาว (th) ‎(pĭw-khaaw)
Tswana: lekgoa
Turkish: beyaz (tr)
Volapük: (♂♀) vietanik, (♂) hivietanik, (♀) jivietanik
Yup'ik: kass'aq

designated for use by Caucasians

Finnish: valkoinen (fi)

relatively light or pale in colour

Finnish: vaalea (fi); vihreä (fi) (of grapes)

pale or pallid

Finnish: kalpea (fi)

lacking tan

Finnish: vaalea (fi)

of coffee or tea, containing milk etc.

Finnish: maidolla, maito- (fi) (with milk); kermalla (with cream)

board games: deemed to belong to the white set

Finnish: valkoinen (fi)

Cistercian — see Cistercian

honourable, fair, decent

Finnish: puhdas (fi)

grey, as from old age

Finnish: harmaa (fi)

characterized by freedom from that which disturbs

Finnish: rauhallinen (fi)

favourite; darling

Finnish: rakas (fi)

politics: anti-revolutionary

Finnish: valkoinen (fi)

of tea: made from immature leaves and shoots

Finnish: valkoinen (fi)

typography: not containing characters

Finnish: tyhjä (fi)

Noun

white ‎(countable and uncountable, plural whites)

The color/colour of snow or milk; the colour of light containing equal amounts of all visible wavelengths.
A person of European descent with light-coloured skin.
The albumen of bird eggs (egg white).
(anatomy) The sclera, white of the eye.
Any butterfly of the Pieris genus.
(sports, billiards, snooker, pool) The cue ball in cue games.
(countable and uncountable) White wine.
- 1977, Billy Joel (music), “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”, in The Stranger:
  A bottle of red, a bottle of white / It all depends upon your appetite / I'll meet you any time you want / In our Italian Restaurant.
(slang) Cocaine
(archery) The central part of the butt, which was formerly painted white; the centre of a mark at which a missile is shot.
- Shakespeare
  'Twas I won the wager, though you hit the white.
The snow- or ice-covered "green" in snow golf.
A white pigment.
Venice white

Translations

color/colour

Afrikaans: wit (af)
Akan: fitaa, sakoo
American Sign Language: 5@Chest-PalmBack FlatO@NearChest-PalmBack
Arabic: أَبْيَض m ‎(ʾabyaḍ), بَيْضَاء f ‎(bayḍāʾ)
Aragonese: blanco m
Armenian: սպիտակ (hy) ‎(spitak), (Western) ճերմակ (hy) ‎(čermak)
Asturian: blancu m
Azeri: ağ (az)
Bashkir: аҡ ‎(aq)
Basque: zuri
Belarusian: белы m ‎(bély)
Breton: gwenn (br)
Bulgarian: бяло (bg) n ‎(bjalo)
Burmese: အဖြူ (my) ‎(a.hpru)
Catalan: blanc (ca) m
Cebuano: puti
Chechen: кӏайн ‎(ḳajn)
Cherokee: ᎤᏁᎬ ‎(unegv)
Chinese:

Cantonese: 白色 ‎(baak⁶ sik¹)

Hakka: 白色 ‎(pha̍k-set)

Mandarin: 白色 (zh) ‎(báisè)

Min Nan: 白色 (zh-min-nan) ‎(pe̍h-sek)
Cornish: gwynn
Corsican: biancu (co) m
Czech: bílá (cs)
Danish: hvid (da)
Dutch: wit (nl) n
Erzya: ашо ‎(ašo)
Esperanto: blanko
Estonian: valge (et)
Ewe: ɣi
Faroese: hvítur m, hvítt n
Finnish: valkoinen (fi), valkea (fi)
French: blanc (fr) m
Friulian: blanc
Galician: branco (gl) m
Georgian: თეთრი (ka) ‎(tetri)
German: Weiß (de), Weiss (de) n (Switzerland)
Greek: άσπρο (el) n ‎(áspro), λευκό (el) n ‎(lefkó)
Guaraní: morotĩ
Gujarati: સફેદ (gu) ‎(safed)
Hawaiian: keʻokeʻo
Hebrew: לבן (he) ‎(laván)
Hindi: सफ़ेद ‎(safed)
Hungarian: fehér (hu)
Icelandic: hvítur (is)
Indonesian:

Standard Indonesian: putih (id)

Javanese: putih (jv), pethak (jv)

Sundanese: bodas
Interlingua: blanco
Irish: bán (ga)
Italian: bianco (it) m
Japanese: 白 (ja) ‎(しろ, shiro), (はく, haku), 白色 (ja) ‎(はくしょく, hakushoku)
Khmer: ស (km) ‎(sɑɑ)
Korean: 하양 (ko) ‎(hayang), 흰색 (ko) ‎(huinsaek)
Kurdish:

Kurmanji: spî (ku)

Sorani: سپی ‎(spî)
Latgalian: bolts
Latin: albus (la) m
Latvian: balts (lv)
Lithuanian: balta (lt)
Lojban: blabi

Luxembourgish: Wäiss
Malagasy: botsatsaka (mg), fotsy (mg)
Malay: putih (ms), puteh, abiad, abyad (ms)
Jawi: ڤوتيه, ابيض
Malayalam: വെളുപ്പ് (ml) ‎(veḷupp)
Maltese: abjad (mt) m
Manchu: (šanyan, šanggiyan)
Manx: bane
Marathi: पांढरा ‎(pandhara)
Mari: ош ‎(oš)
Maricopa: nyimasava
Mazanderani: اسپه ‎(aspeh)
Mingrelian: ჩე ‎(če)
Montagnais: kauapat
Nahuatl: iztac (nah)
Navajo: łigaii
Norman: blianc
Norwegian:

Bokmål: hvit (no), kvit

Nynorsk: kvit
O'odham: toha
Oriya: ଧବଳ (or) ‎(dhabaḷa)
Pashto: سپين (ps) m ‎(spin)
Persian: سفید (fa) ‎(sefid), سپید (fa) ‎(sepid)
Polish: biel (pl) f
Portuguese: branco (pt) m
Punjabi: ਚਿੱਟਾ m ‎(chitta), ਚਿੱਟੀ f ‎(ciṭṭī)
Romanian: alb (ro)
Russian: белый цвет (bélyj cvet) m
Samogitian: balta
Sanskrit: श्वेत (sa) ‎(śveta)
Scottish Gaelic: geal, bàn, fionn
Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic: бела f, бијела f

Roman: bela (sh) f, bijela (sh) f
Slovak: biely
Slovene: bel (sl), bela f
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: běłośina f, běłosć f
Spanish: blanco (es) m
Swahili: weupe (sw)
Swedish: vitt (sv) n
Tagalog: puti (tl)
Tajik: сафед (tg) ‎(safed)
Telugu: తెలుపు (te) ‎(telupu), శ్వేతము (te) ‎(śvētamu)
Tetum: mutin
Thai: สีขาว ‎(sĕe kăao)
Tibetan: དཀར་པོ་ ‎(dkar po)
Tok Pisin: wait
Tupinambá: tinga
Turkish: beyaz (tr), ak (tr)
Ukrainian: бі́лий (uk) ‎(bílyj)
Umbundu: ocindele
Urdu: سفید ‎(safed)
Uyghur: ئاق (ug) ‎(aq)
Venetian: bianco (vec) m, bianch m
Vietnamese: bạch (vi), trắng (vi)
Volapük: viet (vo)
Welsh: gwyn (cy), gwen (cy)
West Frisian: wyt (fy) n
Yiddish: ווײַס ‎(vays)
Yoruba: àwo funfun

Caucasian person

Albanian: i bardhë m, e bardhë pl, të bardhë pl, e bardhë f
Armenian: սպիտակամորթ (hy) ‎(spitakamortʿ)
Bulgarian: бял (bg) m ‎(bjal), бяла (bg) f ‎(bjala)
Chinese:

Cantonese: 白人 ‎(baak⁶ jan⁴)

Mandarin: 白人 (zh) ‎(báirén), 白種人, 白种人 ‎(báizhǒngrén)

Min Nan: 白人 (zh-min-nan) ‎(pe̍h-lâng)
Czech: běloch (cs) m, běloška (cs) f
Danish: hvid (da)
Dutch: blanke (nl) m, f
Esperanto: blankulo, kaŭkazulo
Ewe: yevu
Finnish: valkoinen (fi), valkoihoinen (fi)
French: blanc (fr) m, blanche (fr) f
Galician: branco (gl) m
German: Weißer (de) m, Weiße (de) f (Weiße (de) m, f def.)
Hawaiian: haole
Indonesian: orang kulit putih (id), bule (id)
Italian: bianco (it) m, bianca (it) f
Japanese: 白人 (ja) ‎(はくじん, hakujin)
Kongo: mundele
Korean: 백인 (ko) ‎(baegin)

Kurdish:
Kurmanji: spî (ku), çermspî
Lingala: mondele
Ngarrindjeri: krinkari
Portuguese: branco (pt) m, caucasoide m f, caucasiano (pt) m
Punjabi: ਗੋਰਾ m ‎(gorā)
Russian: бе́лый (ru) m ‎(bélyj)
Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)}белац m, ^{(please verify)}бијелац m, ^{(please verify)}белкиња f

Roman: ^{(please verify)}belac m, ^{(please verify)}bijelac (sh) m, ^{(please verify)}bjelac, ^{(please verify)}belkinja f, ^{(please verify)}bijelkinja f, ^{(please verify)}bjelkinja (sh) f
Spanish: blanco (es) m, blanca (es) f
Swahili: mzungu (sw)
Swedish: vit (sv) c
Telugu: తెల్లవారు (te) ‎(tellavāru)
Tok Pisin: waitman
Turkish: beyaz (tr)
Vietnamese: người trắng, người bạch
Volapük: (♂♀) vietan, (♂) hivietan, (♀) jivietan
Yup'ik: kass'aq
Zulu: umlungu class 1/2

albumen

Bulgarian: бялото на яйцето, бяло (bg) n ‎(bjalo), белтък (bg) m ‎(beltǎk)
Chinese:

Cantonese: 蛋白 ‎(daan⁶⁻² baak⁶⁻²)

Hakka: 卵白 ‎(lón-pha̍k)

Mandarin: 蛋白 (zh) ‎(dànbái), 蛋清 (zh) ‎(dànqīng), 卵白 (zh) ‎(luǎnbái)

Min Nan: 卵清 ‎(nn̄g-chheng), 白仁 ‎(pe̍h-jîn, pe̍h-lîn), 卵白 (zh-min-nan) ‎(nn̄g-pe̍h)
Czech: bílek (cs) m
Faroese: hvíti m, eggjahvíti m
Finnish: valkuainen (fi)
German: Eiweiß (de) n
Greek: λεύκωμα (el) n ‎(léfkoma), ασπράδι (el) n ‎(asprádi)
Irish: gealacán m, gealacán uibhe m
Italian: albume (it) m
Japanese: 白身 (ja) ‎(しろみ, shiromi), 卵白 (ja) ‎(らんぱく, rampaku)

Kurdish:
Sorani: سپێناو ‎(spênav)
Malagasy: tapotsiny (mg)
Maori: whakakahu
Norwegian:

Bokmål: hvite m, kvite m

Nynorsk: kvite m
Pashto: سپين (ps) m pl ‎(spin)
Persian: سفیده (fa) ‎(sefide)
Polish: białko (pl) n
Portuguese: clara (pt) f, albúmen m
Russian: бело́к (ru) m ‎(belók)
Scottish Gaelic: gealagan m
Spanish: clara (es) f, albumen (es) m
Swedish: vita (sv) c
Tagalog: puti ng itlog
Turkish: ak (tr), beyaz (tr), yumurta akı (tr)
Venetian: ciara (vec) f

white of the eye

Bulgarian: бялото на окото, бяло (bg) n ‎(bjalo), склера f ‎(sklera)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 白眼珠 (zh) ‎(báiyǎnzhū)
Czech: bělmo
Faroese: hvíti m
Finnish: valkuainen (fi), silmänvalkuainen (fi)
German: Lederhaut (de) f, weiße Augenhaut f

Irish: gealacán m, gealacán súile m
Japanese: 白目 ‎(しろめ, shirome), 強膜 ‎(きょうまく, kyōmaku), 鞏膜 ‎(きょうまく, kyōmaku)
Pashto: سپين (ps) m pl ‎(spin)
Portuguese: branco do olho m, esclerótica (pt) f
Russian: бело́к (ru) m ‎(belók) (гла́за)
Turkish: ak (tr), göz akı (tr)

common name for the Pieris genus of butterflies

Czech: bělásek
Finnish: kaaliperhonen (fi)

German: Weißling m
Japanese: 白蝶 ‎(しろちょう, shirochō)

cue ball

Finnish: valkea (fi)
Japanese: 白球 ‎(はっきゅう, hakkyū)

Portuguese: branca (pt) f

white wine — see white wine

street name for cocaine

Czech: sníh (cs)
Finnish: lumi (fi)

German: Schnee (de) m
Portuguese: pó (pt) m

Derived terms

terms derived from "white"

Colors in English · colors, colours (layout · text)
red	green	yellow	cream	white
crimson	magenta	teal	lime	pink
indigo	blue	orange	gray, grey	violet
black	purple	brown	azure, sky blue	cyan

Verb

white ‎(third-person singular simple present whites, present participle whiting, simple past and past participle whited)

To make white; to whiten; to bleach.
- Bible, Matthew xxiii. 27
  whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of […] uncleanness
- Bible, Mark ix. 3
  so as no fuller on earth can white them

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: form · hundred · believe · #281: white · means · thus · order

Anagrams

withe

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Webster 1913 Edition

White

White

White

White

Webster 1828 Edition

White

WHITE

Definition 2024

White

White

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white

white

English

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