Etymograph

English

white

White comes from Middle English whit ‘white, pale, light (in color)’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱweydós.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱweydós1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hwītaz1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hwīt1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hwīt1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500whit1‘white’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1592white1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English white
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1592, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew: “'Twas I won the wager, though you hit the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱweydósWiktionary, English whitereconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hwītazWiktionary, English whitereconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hwītWiktionary, English whitereconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hwītWiktionary, English white
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500whitWiktionary, English white‘white’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1592whiteWiktionary, English white. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1592, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew: “'Twas I won the wager, though you hit the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *hwītaz

wheat, 3 more

Today it means

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

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “white”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱweydós / white

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