Word of the Day: White
white / (h)wīt
adjective
1. of the color of milk or new snow
Even the white lily casts a shadow.
Hungarian Proverb
2. light in color
Yellow gold is plentiful compared to white-haired friends.
Chinese Proverb
3. belonging to a group of people with light skin pigmentation, usually of European descent; Caucasian
As long as the white man stutter, the interpreters have a lot of work.
African Proverb
4. unmarked by print or writing
We have all seized the white perimeter as our own
And reached for a pen if only to show
We did not just laze in an armchair turning pages…
From ‘Marginalia’ by Billy Collins, 1941-
5. harmless
Those who think it is permissible to tell white lies soon grow color-blind.
Austin O’Malley, 1858-1932
6. snowy
Song falls silent, music is dumb,
But the air burns with their fragrance,
And white winter, on its knees,
Observes everything with reverent attention.
From ‘In Vyborg’ by Anna Akhmatova, 1889-1966
7. pale in complexion due to fear or illness
Though Macbeth was a bold man, and one that could have faced the devil without trembling, at this horrible sight his cheeks turned white with fear.
From ‘Tales of Shakespeare’ by Charles Lamb, 1775-1834, and Mary Lamb, 1764-1847
8. pure; innocent
The bride, the white bride today a maiden, tomorrow a wife.
Federico Garcia Lorca, 1898-1859
noun
1. a color with no hue located at the opposite end of the spectrum to black
Life is not black and white; there is some gray nuance to it.
Pilou Asbaek, 1982-
2. a person with light skin pigmentation
We have a vision of South Africa in which black and white shall live and work together as equals in conditions of peace and prosperity.
Oliver Tambo, 1917-1993
3. a light viscous fluid surrounding the yolk of an egg
Hope is an egg, of which one man gets the yolk, another the white, and a third the shell.
Danish Proverb
4. the light part of an eyeball
Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes!
Attributed to William H. Prescott, 1796-1859
5. clothing in the color at the opposite end of the spectrum to black
When in doubt, wear white.
Kate Hudson, 1979-
6b. a wedding dress in the traditional color
Here comes the bride
All dressed in white.
Children’s Rhyme
Thank you for including the Dictionary Project in the good work you do in your club. In my club, we have provided Dictionaries for third-grade students for enough years that now we are having former students help us to present dictionaries each year. They are often returning to the same classrooms that they were third-grade students. Teachers plead every year for us to NEVER quit this valuable project. They tell us that students NEED paper books to learn to read, to learn to do research and to do independent study. Please send me pictures of your presentations and tell me about your visits to the schools to give dictionaries to the students. To be included in our newsletter you can send me your stories at DG.2019@5630mail.org.
