whiten

See also: Whiten

English

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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈ(h)waɪ̯.tən/, [ˈ(h)waɪ̯tn̩], [ˈ(h)waɪ̯ʔn̩]

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪtən

Verb

whiten (third-person singular simple present whitens, present participle whitening, simple past and past participle whitened)

1. (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

• prewhiten

Translations

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)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: سپیکردن (spîkirdin)