* 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 Scottish and Irish surname, an Anglicization of Irish de Faoite, itself from Anglo-Norman le White, le Whyte, from the same source as the English surname.
Meanings
(countable, uncountable) A common British and Irish surname transferred from the nickname.
When Dana White barreled up to the microphone, at Donald Trump’s request, to say his piece on election night, it represented confirmation of the UFC CEO’s status as one of the key members of the president-elect’s inner circle. 2024 November 16, Aaron Timms, “How UFC head Dana White became the glue between Maga and the manosphere”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 06 Feb 2025:
(countable, uncountable) A locale in the United States: ▸ A minor city in Bartow County, Georgia; named for its first postmaster.
(countable, uncountable) A locale in the United States: ▸ A city in South Dakota; named for its first European settler.
(countable, uncountable) A locale in the United States: ▸ An unincorporated community in Washington; named for a Washington state judge.
(countable, uncountable) A locale in the United States: ▸ A ghost town in Missouri; named for a local mining official.
Capitalized due to this racial sense's connotation of (current or historical) European origin, so as to follow the capitalization rules for nationalities and ethne, known in former centuries as “races” (e.g., “the Chinese race”, “the English race”), and also, perhaps, as a way to explicitly distinguish it from the color sense, which is never capitalized outside proper nouns.
Meanings
(Canada, UK, US, alt-of, not-comparable, sometimes) Alternative letter-case form of white (“of or relating to white complexion or Europeans”).
Unfortunately, many White people have been raised to believe that their race is intrinsically more prejudice than others. 2025 April 8, Sarah Stock, “Five Common Myths About White People — Debunked”, in Rift TV, archived from the original on 12 Jan 2026:
Capitalized due to this racial sense's connotation of (current or historical) European origin, so as to follow the capitalization rules for nationalities and ethne, known in former centuries as “races” (e.g., “the Chinese race”, “the English race”), and also, perhaps, as a way to explicitly distinguish it from the color sense, which is never capitalized outside proper nouns.
Meanings
(alt-of) Alternative letter-case form of white (“European”).
The Whites on the mission were a special kind of white person, special in the way that my grandmother had explained to me, for they were holy. 1988, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions, Faber & Faber Limited (2021), page 155:
To add insult to injury, not only do Whites shame each other but every other race joins in because they are also educated to believe Whites have somehow screwed them over and are still screwing them over. 2025 April 8, Sarah Stock, “Five Common Myths About White People — Debunked”, in Rift TV, archived from the original on 12 Jan 2026:
(historical) An anticommunist who fought against the Reds during the Russian Civil War; the term is mostly associated with monarchist forces.
The player moving the white pieces.
The eight files (from left to right for White and from right to left for Black) are indicated by the small letters, a, b, c, d, e, f, g and h, respectively. 2022, “2023 Laws of Chess”, in FIDE, archived from the original on 16 Mar 2025, page 21: