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white

(wīt, hwīt)

1. The achromatic color of maximum lightness; the color of objects that reflect nearly all light of all visible wavelengths; the complement or antagonist of black, the other extreme of the neutral gray series. Although typically a response to maximum stimulation of the retina, the perception of white appears always to depend on contrast.

2. The white or nearly white part, as:

a. The albumen of an egg.

b. The white part of an eyeball.

c. A blank or unprinted area, as of an advertisement.

3. One that is white or nearly white, as:

a. whites Pieces of laundry having a white or nearly white color.

b. whites White pants or a white outfit of a special nature: tennis whites.

c. whites The white dress uniform of the US Navy or Coast Guard.

d. A white wine.

e. A white pigment.

f. A white breed, species, or variety of animal.

g. Any of various butterflies of the subfamily Pierinae, characteristically having chiefly white wings often with black markings.

h. also White A member of a racial group having light-colored skin, especially when of European origin and in some classifications also when of Middle Eastern or North African origin.

i. often whites Products of a white color, such as flour, salt, and sugar.

4. Games

a. The white or light-colored pieces, as in chess.

b. The player using these pieces.

a. The outermost ring of an archery target.

b. A hit in this ring.

6. whites Medicine Leukorrhea.

7. White A member of a conservative or counterrevolutionary faction, especially one opposing the Bolsheviks in the Russian civil war.

adj. whit·er, whit·est

1. Being of the color white; devoid of hue, as new snow.

2. Approaching the color white, as:

a. Weakly colored; almost colorless; pale: white wine.

b. Pale gray; silvery and lustrous: white hair.

c. Bloodless; blanched.

3. Light or whitish in color or having light or whitish parts. Used with animal and plant names.

4. also White Of or belonging to a racial group of people having light-colored skin, especially when of European origin, and in some classifications also when of Middle Eastern or North African origin: voting patterns within the white population.

5. Habited in white: white nuns.

6. Accompanied by or mantled with snow: a white Christmas.

a. Incandescent: white flames.

b. Intensely heated; impassioned: white with fury.

8. White Of or relating to a conservative or counterrevolutionary faction, especially one opposing the Bolsheviks in the Russian civil war.

9. With milk added. Used of tea or coffee.

10. Archaic Unsullied; pure.

tr.v. whit·ed, whit·ing, whites

Printing To cover or make illegible with white coloring. Often used with out.

[Middle English, from Old English hwīt; see kweit- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

whiteness n.

White, E(lwyn) B(rooks) 1899-1985.

American writer and humorist who contributed essays, editorials, and parodies to the New Yorker. He also wrote children's books, including Charlotte's Web (1952), and revised a 1918 writing manual, The Elements of Style (1959).

White, Edward Douglass 1845-1921.

American jurist who served as an associate justice (1894-1910) and as the chief justice (1910-1921) of the US Supreme Court.

White, Byron Raymond 1917-2002.

American jurist who served as an associate justice of the US Supreme Court (1962-1993).

White, Andrew Dickson 1832-1918.

American educator and diplomat who founded Cornell University with Ezra Cornell and was its first president (1868-1885). He also served as US ambassador to Germany (1897-1902).

White, T(heodore) H(arold) 1915-1986.

American political journalist noted for his commentaries on presidential elections, including The Making of the President, 1960 (1961).

White, Gilbert 1720-1793.

English naturalist and curate whose detailed observations of local flora and fauna were published in The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne (1789).

White, T(erence) H(anbury) 1906-1964.

British writer best known for the novel The Once and Future King (1958), a retelling of the Arthurian legend.

White, Stanford 1853-1906.

American architect. A member of the prominent architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, he was particularly known for his interior designs and his ornate, eclectic buildings.

White, Patrick Victor Martindale 1912-1990.

Australian writer whose powerfully descriptive and original novels include The Tree of Man (1955) and Voss (1957). He won the 1973 Nobel Prize for literature.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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