adj.
- of the colour of milk or fresh snow, due to the reflection of all visible rays of light.
▸very pale.
▸Brit. (of coffee or tea) served with milk.
▸(of food such as bread or rice) light in colour through having been refined.
- relating to or denoting a human group having light-coloured skin, especially of European ancestry.
- morally or spiritually pure.
- (of wine) made from white grapes, or dark grapes with the skins removed, and having a yellowish colour.
-
(White)
historical counter-revolutionary or reactionary.
n.
- white colour or pigment.
▸
(also whites)
white clothes or material.
▸
(White)
the player of the white pieces in chess or draughts.
- the visible pale part of the eyeball around the iris.
- the outer part (white when cooked) which surrounds the yolk of an egg; the albumen.
- a member of a light-skinned people.
- a white or cream butterfly.
[Pieris brassicae (large white), P. rapae (small white, both crop pests), and other species.]
v.
-
(usu. white something out)
turn (something) white.
▸obliterate (a mistake) with white correction fluid.
-
(white out)
lose colour vision as a prelude to losing consciousness.
Phrase
- bleed someone/thing white
drain of wealth or resources. - whited sepulchre
literary a hypocrite.
[with biblical allusion to Matt 23:27.]
Derivative
- whitely adv.
- whiten v.
- whitener n.
- whiteness n.
- whitish adj.
Usage
White has been used to refer to the skin colour of Europeans or their descendants since the early 17th century. Although white has not been used in a derogatory way (unlike, for example, red), there is a growing tendency to use terms which relate to geographical origin rather than skin colour: hence the currently preferred term in the US is European.
Etymology
OE hwīt, of Gmc origin; rel. to wheat.
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