white

Alternative forms

• whight, whyte, whyght (obsolete)
• White, yt (race-related)

Pronunciation

• enPR: wīt, IPA: /waɪt/
• (without the wine–whine merger) enPR: hwīt, IPA: /ʍaɪt/
• Homophones: wight, Wight, wite (accents with the wine-whine merger)

Adjective

white (comparative whiter or more white, superlative whitest or most white)

1. Bright and colourless; reflecting equal quantities of all frequencies of visible light.
   • Antonyms: black, nonwhite, unwhite
   • Write in black ink on white paper.
2. (sometimes capitalized) Of or relating to Caucasians, people of European descent with light-coloured skin.
3. (chiefly historical) Designated for use by Caucasians.
   • white drinking fountain
   • white hospital
4. Relatively light or pale in colour.
   • white wine
   • white grapes
   • white birch
5. Pale or pallid, as from fear, illness, etc.
6. (of a person or skin) Lacking coloration (tan) from ultraviolet light; not tanned.
   • Synonyms: fair, pale
   • Antonym: tanned
7. (of an animal) Affected by leucism.
8. (of coffee or tea) Containing cream, milk, or creamer.
   • Antonym: black
9. (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.
10. Pertaining to an ecclesiastical order whose adherents dress in white habits; Cistercian.
11. Honourable, fair; decent.
12. Grey, as from old age; having silvery hair; hoary.
13. (archaic) Characterized by freedom from that which disturbs, and the like; fortunate; happy; favourable.
14. (obsolete) Regarded with especial favour; favourite; darling.
15. (politics) Pertaining to constitutional or anti-revolutionary political parties or movements.
16. (of tea) Made from immature leaves and shoots.
17. (typography) Not containing characters; see white space.
18. (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"
19. Characterised by the presence of snow.
    • a white Christmas
    • a white Easter
20. (of a set of armor) Alwhite, pertaining to white armor.

Noun

white (countable and uncountable, plural whites)

1. The color/colour of snow or milk; the colour of light containing equal amounts of all visible wavelengths.
2. A person of European descent with light-coloured skin.
   • Synonyms: see white person
3. Any butterfly of the subfamily Pierinae in the family Pieridae.
4. (countable and uncountable) White wine.
5. (countable and uncountable) White coffee
6. (countable) Any object or substance that is of the color white.
   1. The albumen of bird eggs (egg white).
   2. (anatomy) The sclera, white of the eye.
   3. (sports, billiards, snooker, pool) The cue ball in cue games.
   4. (slang, US, UK) Cocaine
   5. The snow- or ice-covered "green" in snow golf.
   6. A white pigment.
      • Venice white
   7. A white bean
7. (archery) The central part of the butt, which was formerly painted white; the centre of a mark at which a missile is shot.
8. The enclosed part of a letter of the alphabet, especially when handwritten.
9. A feather, from the wing of the cock ostrich, that is of the palest possible shade.
   • Synonym: prime

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To make white; to whiten; to bleach.

Anagrams

• withe

Adjective

white

1. Alternative form of whit

Adjective

white

1. inflection of whit:
   1. weak singular
   2. strong/weak plural

Quotations

• 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Marchauntes Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC:
  • Come forth my white spouse