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PlainSpell

white

/ˈwaɪt/adjective, noun, verb

white is spelled W-H-I-T-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 324 times per million words in written English, the 289th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, white means “Bright and colourless; reflecting equal quantities of all frequencies of visible light” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in white?

Letters5: W-H-I-T-E
Syllables1
In writing324 times per million words; the 289th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Sounds like
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is white?

White appears 324 times per million words in written English, the 289th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce white?

  • /ˈwaɪt/
  • [ˈwaɪ̯t]
  • /ˈʍaɪt/

White has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-white.ogg, En-uk-white.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Exilexi-white.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with white

Sounds like: wight, wite (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: whyte, yt.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with white?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as white.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: withe.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of white

  • whiter comparative
  • more white comparative
  • whitest superlative
  • most white superlative
  • whites plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • whiting participle, present
  • whited participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does white mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

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

    Write in black ink on white paper.

  2. 2

    Of or relating to Europeans or those of European descent, regardless if their skin has cool or warm undertones.

  3. 3

    Of or relating to Caucasians (people with white complexion and European ancestry).

  4. 4

    By U.S. Census Bureau definition, of or relating to people hailing from Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

  5. 5

    Designated for use by Caucasians.

    white drinking fountain

  6. 6

    Relatively light or pale in colour.

    white wine

  7. 7

    Pale or pallid, as from fear, illness, etc.

  8. 8

    Lacking coloration (tan) from ultraviolet light; not tanned.

noun

  1. 1

    The color of snow or milk; the color of light containing equal amounts of all visible wavelengths.

  2. 2

    A person of European descent with light-colored skin.

  3. 3

    Any butterfly of the subfamily Pierinae in the family Pieridae.

  4. 4

    White wine.

  5. 5

    White coffee

  6. 6

    Ellipsis of white bread

  7. 7

    The albumen of bird eggs (egg white).

  8. 8

    The sclera, white of the eye.

verb

  1. 1

    To make white; to whiten; to bleach.

adjective

as White
  1. 1

    CanadaUKUSAlternative letter-case form of white (“of or relating to white complexion or Europeans”).

noun

as White
  1. 1

    Alternative letter-case form of white (“European”).

  2. 2

    An anticommunist who fought against the Reds during the Russian Civil War; the term is mostly associated with monarchist forces.

  3. 3

    The player moving the white pieces.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate white?

Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of white: WHI, wht.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

White in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchblanc (bright and colourless), Blanc, Blanche (person of European descent), blanche (street name for cocaine)
Germanweiß, weiss, wiiss (bright and colourless), Weißer (person of European descent), Weiß, Weiss (color)
Portuguesebranco (bright and colourless), caucasoide, caucasiano (of or relating to Caucasians – see also…), branco do olho, esclerótica (white of the eye)
Spanishblanco, albo, albar, albero (desus.), dosalbo, albugíneo (bright and colourless)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does white come from?

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”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after white