Added 7 October 2026
white
/ˈwaɪt/ noun
In Latin: albus, candidus Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about white at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
verb
adjective
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Being of the achromatic color of maximum lightness; having little or no hue owing to reflection of almost all incident light.
as white as fresh snow
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Of or belonging to a racial group having light skin coloration.
voting patterns within the white population
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Free from moral blemish or impurity; unsullied.
in shining white armor
Origin
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 * Swedish vit * Danish hvid * 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”)
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)