whitenv.
/ˈwʌɪtn/, U.S. /ˈ(h)waɪt(ə)n/ 1.
a. transitive. To make morally or spiritually pure; to free from sin, guilt, disgrace, etc. Also occasionally intransitive: to become pure.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > purity > make pure [verb (transitive)]
cleansec897
shire?c1225
clengea1300
purge1340
purec1350
purifya1393
whitena1400
sprinkle1526
refine1594
simplify1609
sublime1613
purgate1795
revirginize1852
bleach1868
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > quality of being better or superior > [verb (intransitive)] > appear better
whitena1400
society > morality > duty or obligation > moral or legal constraint > immunity or exemption from liability > justification > justify [verb (transitive)] > exculpate
cleansea1000
skere?c1225
unwreea1250
spurge1303
sunyiea1325
disblamec1374
quita1400
whitena1400
emplasterc1405
declare1460
clear1481
absolve1496
purgea1530
free1560
clenge1592
disculp1602
uncharge1604
exonerate1655
exculpate1656
wash1659
excriminate1661
to wipe the mouth of1687
disculpate1693
whitewash1703
rehabilitate1847
a1400 Psalter (Vesp.) l. 8 in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1896) II. 183 Þou þi-selfe salt wasche me, And ouer snawe sal I whitened be.
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 123 He went & shrafe hym of all his synys... And onone as he come in, þis man..said; ‘A! welcom, frend! com ner! for þou hase wele whittend þe.’
1609 T. Tuke Picture True Protestant 211 His word may melt our hearts, and whiten them; and so dispell the darkenesse of our mindes.
1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. (John vii. 14) 519 This bloud of the spotlesse Lamb, whitens and purifies.
1758 H. Walpole Catal. Royal Authors (1759) I. 172 What character that he has censured, has whitened by examination.
1794 T. Dwight Greenfield Hill 151 Here the best blessings of those far-fam'd climes, Pure of their woes, and whiten'd from their crimes, Shall blend with nobler blessings, all my own.
1842 H. Spicer Honesty v. iv. 88 Heaven shall aid To whiten my stained name.
1899 F. H. Burnett De Willoughby Claim xxx. 332 She used to cling about my neck and beg me..to whiten my soul by confession.
1916 Living Age 10 June 666/1 I always feel that the only way to whiten my soul..is to go and have a chat with Miss Crawley.
1935 R. C. H. Lenski Interpr. St. John's Revelation vii. 261 Blood is red, yet the Lamb's blood whitens.
1999 K. J. Renk Caribbean Shadows & Victorian Ghosts iv. 107 Miss Havisham,..who hopes to whiten her soul to remove from it the taint of sexual passion.
b. transitive. To conceal the faults or errors of (a person or thing); to provide with a specious appearance of honesty, respectability, rectitude, etc. Also intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > semblance, outward show > present speciously [verb (transitive)]
showc1175
feignc1340
clothe1393
colourc1400
gloze1430
pretence1548
whiten1583
maska1593
vizard1628
tissuea1639
to whiten up1746
act1790
veneer1875
histrionize1876
window dress1913
1583 W. Chauncie tr. P. Viret Worlde Possessed with Deuils ii. sig. G.vi Some will whiten themselues in blacking other.
1672 J. V. Canes Acct. Dr. Still.'s Bk. 49 Here he diminishes and there he exaggerates, here he blacks with his pen and there he whitens.
1687 J. Dryden Hind & Panther i. 4 The bristl'd Baptist Boar, impure as He, (But whitn'd with the foam of sanctity).
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa V. xxxix. 289 Even the Lawyer..for the sake of a paltry fee, undertakes to whiten a black cause, and to defend it against one he knows to be good.
1779 S. Johnson Smith in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets IV. 41 Some time afterwards he assumed an appearance of decency; in his own phrase, he whitened himself.
1805 H. Lee Canterbury Tales V. 90 It..bids us whiten by a comparison with the imperfections of others.
1873 Pop. Sci. Monthly Apr. 719 By selecting the evidence any society may be relatively blackened, and any other society relatively whitened.
1963 R. Croft-Cooke Bosie 12 Everything published about the Wilde affair..has been written to prove something... There has been much to whiten Douglas at the expense of Ross, more to whiten Ross at the expense of Douglas.
1978 J. White Eros Defiled v. 78 We may whiten adultery with new Sexspeak, but we shall not have changed anything that matters.
2002 D. Quinn Holy viii. 70 Instead of blackening the old gods what they did was whiten devils.
2. † d. transitive. To coat or plate with tin; = tin v. 1. Obsolete.
a. transitive. To make white by coating with a white-coloured substance; esp. to paint or render (a wall, building, etc.) with whitewash.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > decorating and painting > decorate [verb (transitive)] > paint > paint with whitewash
white-limec1300
whiten?a1425
whitewash1591
wash1604
the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > whitening > make white [verb (transitive)] > cover or coat with white
whiteOE
besnowa1000
whiten?a1425
oversnow1609
candya1612
whitewash1722
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 180 (MED) For gutta rosacea..is put a gomorea, i. for to whiten & wash þe face.
R. Misyn tr. R. Rolle Fire of Love 95 Of qwhome sum þer fowl[n]es to hyde or þer bewte þa study to increse with payntynge of begillynge avotre þer faces þa color & qwhittyn.
1576 G. Baker tr. C. Gesner Newe Jewell of Health i. f. 10v Houses newlye plastered, and whytened with Lyme.
a1635 T. Randolph Muses Looking-glasse iv. i. 65 in Poems (1638) Shee..hath forgot to whiten The naturall rednesse of my nose!
1664 in W. O. Blunt 1000 Years Church in Chester-le-Street (1884) 96 For whitning the church four pound ten shillings.
1751 T. Smollett Peregrine Pickle IV. xcvi. 34 He had exchanged his own hair for a smoke-dried tie periwig, which all the flour in his drudging-box had not been able to whiten.
1874 J. Birch Country Archit. 44 Lath, plaster, float, set and twice whiten all ceilings throughout.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles III. li. 191 I shall get the house swept out and whitened to-morrow morning.
1949 P. P. Argenti & H. J. Rose Folk-lore Chios I. iii. 126 They..often whiten the inner walls of the house with lime-wash.
2008 C. Binggeli Materials for Interior Environments vi. 129 Whitewash: Finish used to whiten walls and woodwork; made by the same chemistry as used to produce lime plaster.
b. transitive. To make white or paler in colour through a process that removes natural colour, impurities, or stains; to blanch; to bleach.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > whitening > make white [verb (transitive)] > bleach
bleachc1200
blanch?a1400
white?a1425
whiten1548
whitewash1576
to whiten up1808
overbleach1857
1548 Princess Elizabeth & J. Bale tr. Queen Margaret of Angoulême Godly Medytacyon Christen Sowle f. 43 She taught them to sowe flaxe and hempe, to watter it, drye it, dresse it spynne it, weaue it, whyten it, and fashyon it, to all maner of vse for the bodye.
1576 G. Baker tr. C. Gesner Newe Jewell of Health iii. f. 166v The true oyle of Tartare..cleareth & whyteneth the face, and taketh awaye the rednesse of the same.
1645 Bp. J. Hall Remedy Discontentm. xix. 118 The Fuller treads upon that cloth which he means to whiten.
1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Compl. Gard'ner ii. vi. iii. 148 To tie up..the tops of the Leaves of Long Lettuce..to make them Cabbage, or at least to whiten them.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Squincy There is nothing more sovereign than Dogs-Turd dry'd and whiten'd in the Sun.
1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. ii. 226 The foliage of the tree is..frequently used to scour and whiten the floors.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 767 The effects of the paste are to whiten the skins, to soften them, and to protect them from the hardening influence of the atmosphere.
1860 ‘G. Eliot’ Mill on Floss III. vi. xii. 183 I've got cloth as has never been whittened.
1905 Pulp & Paper Mag. Canada Feb. 40/1 The pulpmaker..ascertained the minimum quantity of bleach which will whiten his pulp.
1986 L. P. Moriarty Ni'ihau Shell Leis 99 The shells should never come into contact with chlorine bleach (to whiten them).
2008 Vanity Fair Sept. 256/1 Dr. Lituchy had whitened and straightened and bonded my teeth.
c. transitive. gen. To give a white colour or appearance to; to cause to grow or become white.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > whitening > make white [verb (transitive)]
whiteOE
emblanch1393
blank1484
whiten1552
frost1596
albify1599
frostbite?1605
hoar1605
dealbate1623
impearl1640
marble1658
bewhite1678
whiten1699
rewhiten1725
bewhiten1810
ermine1825
powder1890
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Whyten, or to make whyte.
1712 A. Pope tr. Statius First Bk. Thebais in Misc. Poems 28 Where..Human Bones yet whiten all the Ground.
1719 E. Young Busiris i. 3 Sails unnumber'd whiten all the Stream.
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iii. xv. 101 Whiten'd with foam a thousand streams Leap from the mountain's crown.
1853 C. Dickens Bleak House xxxiv. 342 Take care, while you are young, that you can think in those days, ‘I never whitened a hair of her dear head...’.
1873 W. Black Princess of Thule i. 10 The sea whitened by the rushing of the wind.
1930 V. Palmer Passage iii. iii. 232 A sweep of honey-coloured grass..whitened by patches of native jasmine.
1997 B. Morrow Giovanni's Gift ii. 164 Summer burned itself out and autumn hoarfrosts whitened the higher meadows.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > work with metal [verb (transitive)] > coat or cover with metal > with specific metal
tin1398
leadc1440
ironc1450
lay1472
copper1530
braze1552
silverize1605
foliate1665
plate1686
whiten1687
foil1714
blanch1729
quicken1738
amalgam1789
quick1790
aluminize1791
plate1791
zincify1801
platinize1825
resilver1832
galvanize1839
electroplate1843
zinc1843
electro-silver1851
platinate1858
electrotin1859
white-lead1863
palladiumize1864
white-metal1864
brassc1865
nickelize1865
nickel-plate1872
nickel1875
stopper1884
electro1891
sherardize1904
steel1911
stellite1934
flame-plate1954
steel-face1961
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant ii. 88 In this Countrey of Persia,..they whiten [Fr. l'on blanchit], or if you will, tinn, brass and copper otherwise than with us.
1735 J. Barrow Dict. Polygraphicum I. at Copper To whiten copper or iron. Take calx of silver, etc.
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. i. i. 6 To put it [sc. a pin-head] on, is a peculiar business, to whiten the pins is another. View more context for this quotation
1800 Repertory of Arts 13 224 I generally whiten about fifty pounds weight [of pins] at a time.
e. transitive. To make white or lighter in colour by the inclusion of a white-coloured agent or ingredient.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > whitening > make white [verb (transitive)]
whiteOE
emblanch1393
blank1484
whiten1552
frost1596
albify1599
frostbite?1605
hoar1605
dealbate1623
impearl1640
marble1658
bewhite1678
whiten1699
rewhiten1725
bewhiten1810
ermine1825
powder1890
1699 B. Allen Nat. Hist. Chalybeat & Purging Waters 156 This Salt..disturb'd not a Solution of Sublimate, which Alkalies and Nitres do, and which Alum thickens and whitens.
1758 London Mag. Jan. 27/2 Other less innocent ingredients are added [to flour], chalk to whiten it again, and alum to give it that consistency.
1830 M. Donovan Domest. Econ. I. x. 359 Alum..is said to whiten ill-coloured flour, and to harden and whiten bread made from flour which has been malted.
1871 E. Balfour Cycl. India (ed. 2) II. 218/2 Salt is also employed..to whiten the flour and enable it to hold more water.
1916 H. Lowenburg Pract. Treat. Infant Feeding ii. 59 If the farmer be unscrupulous, the milk may be watered or preservatives introduced, or chalk added to whiten it.
1938 N.Y. Herald Tribune 12 Aug. 9/6 We have made vichysoisse... It is whitened with cream and very delicate as to flavor.
1997 B. H. Kaye Powder Mixing iii. 113 Artificial creamer used to whiten coffee.
2013 D. Zinczenko Eat It to beat It Gloss. Casein, a milk protein used to thicken and whiten foods.
3.
a. intransitive. To grow or become white or pale in colour; to assume a white colour or appearance.
ΚΠ
1597 tr. R. Bacon Mirror Alchimy 49 To melt, whiten, incerate, and dissolue, belong vnto the body, and congelation to the soule.
a1633 G. Herbert Outlandish Prov. (1640) sig. D8v Thornes whiten yet doe nothing.
1688 A. Pitfield tr. C. Perrault Mem. Nat. Hist. Animals 31 In the Disease called Pityriasis, the Skin Whitens extraordinarily, and seems to be rub'd over with Meal.
1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad V. xxi. 382 A Foam whitens on the purple Waves.
1794 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. 145 The shoerl is interspersed through the jade; in strong fire it melts, but the jade only whitens.
1832 Ld. Tennyson Lady of Shalott i, in Poems (new ed.) 9 Willows whiten, aspens shiver,..By the island in the river.
1853 H. W. Longfellow tr. Dante Purgatorio xvi. 143 Behold the dawn,..Already whitening.
1922 A. Caillé Postgraduate Med. iii. 189 As the [infected] skin whitens it is to be painted with pure alcohol to prevent deep burns.
1973 T. McGuane Ninety-two in Shade 31 Around the bases of the piers the green water was racing and whitening.
2006 Daily Tel. 28 Mar. 23/2 Linen was left in the sun to whiten.
b. intransitive. To become pale in the face from fear, anger, etc. Also transitive: to cause to become pale in this way. Cf. redden v. 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > skin > complexion > paleness > [verb (intransitive)] > become or turn pale
blakea1225
fallowa1250
blokec1275
bloknec1315
bleykec1327
blikena1400
falla1450
to paint pale (also white)a1529
blemish1530
appale1534
to turn (one's) colour1548
wan1582
bleak1605
whiten1775
blench1813
etiolate1882
1775 R. Jephson Braganza ii. vi. 22 How his cheek whitens!
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. viii. 191 Fear whiten'd ev'ry cheek.
1858 National Mag. 3 359/1 ‘Dr Hammersley has met with an accident: not a very serious one, I trust,’ he added, as he saw her face whiten.
1880 R. Broughton Second Thoughts II. iii. iv. 192 ‘I am very glad to hear it,’ he says almost inaudibly, and whitening.
a1937 E. Wharton Buccaneers (1938) xvi. 206 The effect..was to make lady Churt whiten with anger under her paint.
1962 F. Sweeney Vatican Impressions 160 ‘He's coming,’ said the young priest..and Mrs Engel saw his face whiten.
2007 J. Flanagan Icebound Land ii. 12 He saw the boy's face whiten with fear.
4. transitive. To make (more) white in ethnic or cultural identity, character, or style; spec. to alter the ethnic composition of (a population, organization, etc.) by increasing the number or influence of white people. Cf. whitening n. 1c.
ΚΠ
1811 J. Black tr. A. von Humboldt Polit. Ess. New Spain I. 247 Families suspected of being of mixed blood demand from the high court..to have it declared that they belong to the whites... We see very swarthy mulattoes who have had the address to get themselves whitened (this is the vulgar expression).
1836 in G. Thompson & R. J. Breckinridge Discuss. on Amer. Slavery 68/2 The slave-holders are..carrying on, to use their own expression, ‘a bleaching system, whitening the population of the South.’
1916 Unpopular Rev. Jan. 108 Attempts to whiten the negro by giving him a miller's job have also been made.
1943 F. T. Smith Exper. in Modifying Attitudes toward Negro i. 2 Negro migration to the North and West..is rapidly ‘whitening’ the rural South.
1959 Film Q. Winter 59/1 Cool jazz (frowned on slightly, as perhaps an attempt to whiten jazz).
1984 T. Tunnell Crucible of Reconstruction iii. viii. 162 Warmoth..was..uncomfortable as the head of a mostly Negro party; whitening the party would have increased his personal self-esteem.
2006 New Yorker 6 Nov. 116/3 The others tend to whiten sympathetic black characters and to desexualize Uncle Tom.
Phrasal verbs
to whiten up
1. transitive. To make (a person) appear more respectable, honest, etc., than they are; to conceal the faults or errors of; = sense 1b. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > semblance, outward show > present speciously [verb (transitive)]
showc1175
feignc1340
clothe1393
colourc1400
gloze1430
pretence1548
whiten1583
maska1593
vizard1628
tissuea1639
to whiten up1746
act1790
veneer1875
histrionize1876
window dress1913
1746 Westm. Jrnl. 24 May A Piece of Information that has several Times been wanted, in order to whiten up D——ch Honour and Bravery.
1859 Bristol Mercury 9 July 6/3 His learned friend..had opened the case in his usual way, by whitening up his own client and blackening the defendant.
1905 Critic (N.Y.) Apr. 367/2 Don't think of whitening up those fellows... Paint them as black as you know how.
1919 L. M. Sweet Makin' o' Joe ix. 119 It was a good many hours too late by the Town clock on the New Methodist Church to whiten up her reputation.
2. transitive. To make white or paler in colour, as by coating with whitewash, paint, etc., by cleaning or bleaching, or by the addition of a white-coloured additive; = sense 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > whitening > make white [verb (transitive)] > bleach
bleachc1200
blanch?a1400
white?a1425
whiten1548
whitewash1576
to whiten up1808
overbleach1857
1808 E. Hamilton Cottagers of Glenburnie vi. 104 The..cottages..being so whitened up, that no one can have the comfort of laying a dirty hand upon them without leaving the impression.
1853 N.Y. Times 16 May 1/3 The milkmen..rarely ever put in enough water to render it [sc. milk] blue, and necessitate the employment of chalk or magnesia to whiten it up again.
1905 W. D. Howells London Films ix. 83 A housemaid..scrubbing down and whitening up the front steps of a stately mansion.
1932 San Antonio (Texas) Express 23 Mar. 9/4 (advt.) Now stop useless brushing and whiten up your teeth right away!
2006 P. Morsi Cotton Queen 294 Do not, under any circumstances, bring me coffee that's been whitened up with powdered creamer.
3. Originally and chiefly U.S.
a. transitive. To apply white colour to (the body, esp. the face), typically in order to play the part of a white person. Cf. to blacken up 1 at blacken v. Phrasal verbs.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > the staging of a theatrical production > stage [verb (transitive)] > make up
to make up1778
to whiten up1842
to blacken up1861
to black up1877
to white up1906
1842 Weekly Herald (N.Y.) 7 May 260/3 A half dozen negroes took it into their woolly pates to ape the whites.., so whitened up their phizes with chalk and paint.
1890 C. Cole Auroraphone iii. 67 Mel and I hurriedly whitened up our faces..set our features into corpse-like rigidity, and..awaited developments.
1955 Jet 1 Sept. 46 The heavy coat of make-up..made her appear as though she had been ‘whitened up’ by over-zealous make-up artists.
2009 Evening Standard (Nexis) 9 Apr. 14 Death and the King's Horseman..is an exploration of colonialism using the storytelling conventions of Nigeria, where they whiten up black faces to represent imperial masters.
b. intransitive. To apply white colour to one's body, esp. the face, typically in order to play the part of a white person. Cf. to blacken up 2 at blacken v. Phrasal verbs.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > the staging of a theatrical production > stage [verb (intransitive)] > make up
black1579
blacken1699
to make up1839
to whiten up1878
to blacken up1884
to black up1890
to white up1890
1878 St. Louis Globe-Democrat 6 Nov. 7/4 Sometimes she would have to whiten up.., and other times she'd black up completely to play Topsy.
1886 Sullivan (Indiana) Democrat 3 Aug. White persons have blacked up to imitate negroes from time immemorial. For a negro to ‘whiten up’ to personate a white person is something new.
1908 Sunday Post (Boston) 27 Sept. 25/1 The twin stars will impersonate the characters usually assumed by white artists... Instead of ‘blacking up’ they will ‘whiten up’.
2006 C. R. Daileader in A. Thompson Colorblind Shakespeare iii. xi. 218 What if an actress of color—like Whoopi Goldberg in her appearance at the Oscars—were to ‘whiten up’ for the Liz Taylor look?
4. Chiefly U.S.
a. transitive. To make (more) white in ethnic or cultural identity, character, or style; = sense 4.
ΚΠ
1868 [implied in: Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 29 Jan. Any opposition to slavery..looked to the ultimate whitening up of all the Southern States.].
1902 St. Nicholas Dec. 124/2 ‘Louizy..'s a ole black-skin name...’ ‘But don't you think maybe we mought sort o' whiten up Louizy into Loueezy.., or maybe into Louise?’
1961 Times 27 Nov. 11/3 A century of progress would whiten up the yellow races and inter-marriage would do the rest.
1987 J. M. Curtis Rock Eras ii. ix. 104 If Motown whitened up fifties rhythm and blues, the Beach Boys whitened up rock 'n' roll in general.
2004 C. N. Davidson Revol. & World (rev. ed.) 23 History has ‘whitened up’ the patriots who died during the Boston Massacre. It makes them New Englanders.., not multicultural, multinational dock workers.
b. intransitive. To become (more) white in ethnic or cultural identity, character, or style.
ΚΠ
1968 W. D. Jordan White over Black v. 517 The only hope for Americans who balked at Negro slavery..lay in the proposition that Negroes in America were going to whiten up.
1981 Washington Post 26 July g7/2 Just as [Kenny] Rogers has tried to tighten up, [Lionel] Richie seems to have whitened up.
2009 C. Corbould Becoming Afr. Amer. 16 American nativism..led to an insistence that such [sc. African American] immigrants whiten up, become ‘100 percent American’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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