Standard Lemma guide

whiten

name · verb · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈ(h)waɪ̯.tən/
  • [ˈ(h)waɪ̯tn̩]
  • [ˈ(h)waɪ̯ʔn̩]
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -aɪtən
  • CMU ARPABET: W AY1 T AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: HH W AY1 T AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

A surname.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

(To cause) to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: ergative

Examples

  • Age had whitened his hair.
  • The trees in spring whiten with blossoms.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To increase the security of an iterated block cipher by steps that combine the data with portions of the key.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: computing, cryptography, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

To normalize data so that the covariance matrix becomes the identity matrix; i.e., to remove correlations so each variable has unit variance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: mathematics, sciences, statistics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

turn white

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • This detergent will whiten your laundry

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: white

Antonyms: blacken

Broader terms: discolor, discolour, colour, color

Narrower terms: bleach

History

Etymology

From Middle English whitenen, whitnen, from Old Norse hvítna (“to whiten”), from Proto-Germanic *hwītnōną (“to whiten, become white”), from Proto-Indo-European *kwind-, *kwint- (“bright”), equivalent to white + -en. Cognate with Icelandic hvítna (“to whiten”), Swedish vitna, hvitna (“to whiten”), Danish hvidne (“to whiten”). Compare Old English hwītian (“to whiten, become white, be white, make white”).

Across languages

Translations

95 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: بَيَّضَ (bayyaḍa) — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܲܚܘܸܪ (maḥwir) — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Aromanian: alghescu — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Bulgarian: избелвам (izbelvam) — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Catalan: blanquejar — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Esperanto: blankigi — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Finnish: vaalentaa — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Finnish: valkaista — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • French: blanchir — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Galician: branquear — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Galician: albear — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • German: weißen — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍈𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gaƕeitjan) — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Greek: λευκαίνω (lefkaíno) — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Greek: ασπρίζω (asprízo) — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Ancient Greek: λευκαίνω (leukaínō) — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Hebrew: הִלְבִּין (hilbín) — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Hungarian: fehérít — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Ido: blankigar — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Indonesian: putihkan — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Italian: imbiancare — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Italian: sbiancare — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Japanese: 白くする (shirokusuru) — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Japanese: 白める (shiromeru) — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Korean: 하얗게 하다 (hayake hada) — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Latin: albicō — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Latin: albō — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Malay: putihkan — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Māori: whakamā — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Māori: whakapūaho — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Polish: bielić — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Portuguese: branquear — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Portuguese: embranquecer — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Romanian: albi — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Russian: бели́ть (belítʹ) — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Russian: побели́ть (pobelítʹ) — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Russian: отбе́ливать (bleach) — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Russian: отбели́ть (otbelítʹ) — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Santali: ᱯᱳᱱᱰ (ponḍ) — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Sicilian: abbianchiari — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Spanish: blanquear — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Spanish: albear — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Swedish: göra vit — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Swedish: göra vitare — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Swedish: bleka — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Turkish: ağartmak — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Turkish: aklamak — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Turkish: beyazlatmak — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Turkish: beyazlaştırmak — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Ottoman Turkish: بیاضلاتمق (beyazlatmak) — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Welsh: gwynnu — to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Ainu: レタㇻ (retar) — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Arabic: اِبْيَضَّ (ibyaḍḍa) — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܚܵܘܹܪ (ḥāwēr) — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Bulgarian: побелявам (pobeljavam) — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Catalan: blanquejar — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Esperanto: blankiĝi — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Finnish: vaaleta — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Finnish: vaalentua — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • French: blanchir — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • German: weiß werden — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Greek: λευκαίνω (lefkaíno) — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Greek: ασπρίζω (asprízo) — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Ido: blankeskar — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Indonesian: memutih — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Irish: aol — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Irish: bánaigh — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Italian: imbiancarsi — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Italian: sbiancarsi — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Japanese: 白む (shiramu) — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Japanese: 白ばむ (shirobamu) — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Japanese: 白くなる (shirokunaru) — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Kashmiri: پرَٛنُن (pranun) — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Korean: 하얘지다 (hayaejida) — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Korean: 희어지다 (huieojida) — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Malay: memutih — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Polish: bieleć — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Polish: zbieleć — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Polish: bielić się — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Portuguese: embranquecer — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Romanian: albi — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Russian: беле́ть (belétʹ) — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Russian: побеле́ть (pobelétʹ) — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Santali: ᱯᱳᱱᱰ (ponḍ) — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Sicilian: abbianchiari — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Spanish: blanquear — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Spanish: albear — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Swedish: vitna — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Telugu: తెల్లబడు (tellabaḍu) — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Turkish: ağarmak — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Turkish: aklanmak — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Turkish: beyazlamak — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Turkish: beyazlaşmak — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Ottoman Turkish: بیاضلانمق (beyâzlanmak) — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
  • Ukrainian: біли́ти (bilýty) — to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch