white

n. C / U

A1 Beginner Oxford US //ˈhwaɪt// UK //wˈaɪt// white

Archaic General-service Slang Vulgar

n. the color of snow, milk, or clean paper. It is the lightest color and has no hue.

n. the achromatic color of maximum lightness, reflecting all visible wavelengths of light; the color of fresh snow or milk.

SIMPLE

White is a symbol of peace.

CONTEXTUAL

The artist mixed a little blue into the white to create a pale sky color.

COMPLEX

In many Western cultures, white is associated with purity, whereas in some Eastern cultures, it is the traditional color of mourning.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Etymology 1

* As an English surname, from Middle English White, as a nickname for someone with white hair or pale complexion; in some cases from a personal name of the same meaning. See the modern adjective white. Also as an English surname, from Old English wiht (“bend”), found only in placenames, a derivative of the verb wican (“to yield, bend”); compare Wight. * As a Scottish Gaelic and Irish surname, used as a translation of several Gaelic names containing the element bán and geal, including Mac Giolla bháin (McElwain, Kilbane), Ó Gealagáin (Galligan), Bán (Bane), and Ó Banáin (Bannon). * Also as a Scottish and Irish surname, an Anglicization of Irish de Faoite, itself from Anglo-Norman le White, le Whyte, from the same source as the English surname.

Etymology 2

Capitalized due to this racial sense's connotation of (current or historical) European origin, so as to follow the capitalization rules for nationalities and ethne, known in former centuries as “races” (e.g., “the Chinese race”, “the English race”), and also, perhaps, as a way to explicitly distinguish it from the color sense, which is never capitalized outside proper nouns.

Usage

Uncountable when referring to the color in general. Countable when referring to specific shades or types of a substance, such as paint ('a range of whites').

Idioms16 entries