white

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   of or belonging to a racial group having light skin coloration

   voting patterns within the white population

2. 2
   adj

   of summer nights in northern latitudes where the sun barely sets

   white nights

3. 3
   adj

   (of hair) having lost its color

   the white hairs of old age

4. 4
   adj

   glowing white with heat

   white flames

5. 5
   adj

   restricted to whites only

   under segregation there were even white restrooms and white drinking fountains

6. 6
   adj

   marked by the presence of snow

   a white Christmas

7. 7
   verb

   turn white

   This detergent will whiten your laundry

8. 8
   adj

   Bright and colourless; reflecting equal quantities of all frequencies of visible light.

   Write in black ink on white paper.

Etymology

* 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…