Etymology
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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 ” ) .
Pronunciation
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IPA (key ) : /ˈ(h)waɪ̯.tən/ , [ˈ(h)waɪ̯tn̩] , [ˈ(h)waɪ̯ʔn̩]
Audio (Southern England) (file )
Rhymes: -aɪtən
whiten (third-person singular simple present whitens , present participle whitening , simple past and past participle whitened )
( ergative ) (To cause) to become white or whiter ; to bleach or blanch .
Age had whitened his hair.
The trees in spring whiten with blossoms.
Derived terms
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Translations
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to make white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
Arabic: بَيَّضَ ( bayyaḍa )
Aromanian: alghescu
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܡܲܚܘܸܪ ( maḥwir )
Bulgarian: избелвам (bg) ( izbelvam )
Catalan: blanquejar (ca)
Esperanto: blankigi
Finnish: vaalentaa (fi) ; valkaista (fi) ( make completely white )
French: blanchir (fr)
Galician: branquear (gl) , albear (gl)
German: weißen (de)
Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍈𐌴𐌹𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 ( gaƕeitjan )
Greek: λευκαίνω (el) ( lefkaíno ) , ασπρίζω (el) ( asprízo )
Ancient: λευκαίνω ( leukaínō )
Hebrew: הִלְבִּין (he) ( hilbín )
Hungarian: fehérít (hu)
Ido: blankigar (io)
Indonesian: memutih (id)
Italian: imbiancare (it) , sbiancare (it)
Japanese: 白くする ( shirokusuru ) , 白める ( shiromeru )
Korean: 하얗게 하다 (hayake hada)
Latin: albicō , albō (la)
Maori: whakamā , whakapūaho
Polish: bielić (pl) impf
Portuguese: branquear (pt) , embranquecer (pt)
Romanian: albi (ro)
Russian: бели́ть (ru) impf ( belítʹ ) , побели́ть (ru) pf ( pobelítʹ ) ; (bleach) отбе́ливать (ru) impf ( otbélivatʹ ) , отбели́ть (ru) pf ( otbelítʹ )
Santali: ᱯᱳᱱᱰ ( ponḍ )
Spanish: blanquear (es)
Swedish: göra vit (sv) , göra vitare, bleka (sv)
Turkish: ağartmak (tr) , aklamak (tr) , beyazlatmak (tr) , beyazlaştırmak
Welsh: gwynnu (cy)
to become white or whiter; to bleach or blanch
Ainu: レタㇻ ( retar )
Arabic: اِبْيَضَّ ( ibyaḍḍa )
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܚܵܘܹܪ ( ḥāwēr )
Bulgarian: побелявам ( pobeljavam )
Catalan: blanquejar (ca)
Esperanto: blankiĝi
Finnish: vaaleta (fi) , vaalentua (fi)
French: blanchir (fr)
German: weiß werden
Greek: λευκαίνω (el) ( lefkaíno ) , ασπρίζω (el) ( asprízo )
Ido: blankeskar (io)
Irish: aol , bánaigh
Italian: imbiancarsi , sbiancarsi
Japanese: 白む ( shiramu ) , 白ばむ ( shirobamu ) , 白くなる ( shirokunaru )
Korean: 하얘지다 (ko) ( hayaejida ) , 희어지다 ( huieojida )
Polish: bieleć impf , zbieleć pf , bielić się impf
Portuguese: embranquecer (pt)
Romanian: albi (ro)
Russian: беле́ть (ru) impf ( belétʹ ) , побеле́ть (ru) ( pobelétʹ )
Santali: ᱯᱳᱱᱰ ( ponḍ )
Spanish: blanquear (es)
Swedish: vitna (sv)
Telugu: తెల్లబడు ( tellabaḍu )
Turkish: ağarmak (tr) , aklanmak (tr) , beyazlamak , beyazlaşmak (tr)
Ukrainian: біли́ти (uk) impf ( bilýty )
Translations to be checked
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: سپیکردن ( spîkirdin )