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Which vs White - What's the difference?

which | white |

As nouns the difference between which and white

is that which is an occurrence of the word which while white is the color/colour of snow or milk; the colour of light containing equal amounts of all visible wavelengths.

As a determiner which

is what, of those mentioned or implied (used interrogatively).

As a pronoun which

is who; whom; what (of those mentioned or implied).

As an adjective white is

bright and colourless; reflecting equal quantities of all frequencies of visible light.

As a verb white is

to make white; to whiten; to bleach.

As a proper noun White is

{{surname|common|from=nicknames}.

which

English

(wikipedia which)

Alternative forms

* whiche (obsolete) * wich (Jamaican English)

Determiner

(en determiner)
  • What, of those mentioned or implied (used interrogatively ).
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-17, volume=408, issue=8849, magazine=(The Economist), author=Schumpeter
  • , title= In praise of laziness , passage=Which of these banes of modern business life is worse remains open to debate. But what is clear is that office workers are on a treadmill of pointless activity. Managers allow meetings to drag on for hours. Workers generate e-mails because it requires little effort and no thought. An entire management industry exists to spin the treadmill ever faster.}}
  • (interrogative) What one or ones (of those mentioned or implied).
  • (relative) The one or ones that.
  • (relative) The one or ones mentioned.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Katrina G. Claw
  • , title= Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm , volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Many genes with reproductive roles also have antibacterial and immune functions, which indicate that the threat of microbial attack on the sperm or egg may be a major influence on rapid evolution during reproduction.}}
  • Used of people (now generally (who), (whom) or (that)).
  • * 1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , Acts IX:
  • The men which acompanyed him on his waye stode amased, for they herde a voyce, butt sawe no man.

    Pronoun

    (English Pronouns)
  • (lb) Who; whom; what (of those mentioned or implied).
  • :
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.
  • *
  • *:There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Welcome to the plastisphere , passage=Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.}}

    Usage notes

    * (US usage'') Some authorities insist, prescriptively, that relative ''which'' should be used only in non-restrictive contexts. For restrictive contexts (e.g., ''The song that made the charts in 2004 is better than the later ones''), they prefer ''that''. Actual usage does not support this "rule". Fowler, who proposed the rule, himself acknowledged that it was "not the practice of most or of the best writers". Even E.B. White, a notorious "which-hunter", wrote this: "the premature expiration of a pig is, I soon discovered, a departure which the community marks solemnly on its calendar." In modern UK usage, ''The song which made the charts in 2004 is better than the later ones is generally accepted without question. * When "which" (or the other relative pronouns "who" and "that") is used as the subject of a relative clause, the verb agrees with the antecedent of the pronoun. Thus "The thing which is...", "The things which are...", etc.

    Quotations

    * 1611 — 1:1 *: Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us...

    Derived terms

    * every which way * every which where * whichever * whichness * whichsoever

    Noun

    (es)
  • An occurrence of the word which .
  • * 1959 , William Van O'Connor, Modern prose, form and style (page 251)
  • The ofs and the whiches have thrown our prose into a hundred-years' sleep.
  • * 1989 , Donald Ervin Knuth, Tracy Larrabee, Paul M. Roberts, Mathematical writing (page 90)
  • Is it not true, TLL asked of Mary-Claire, that people invariably get their whiches and thats right when they speak?

    white

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (l), (l), (l) (obsolete)

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Bright and colourless; reflecting equal quantities of all frequencies of visible light.
  • * (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) (1807-1882)
  • white as the whitest lily on a stream.
  • * 1962' (quoting '''1381 text), (Hans Kurath) & Sherman M. Kuhn, eds., ''(Middle English Dictionary) , Ann Arbor, Mich.: (University of Michigan Press), , page 1242:
  • dorr?&
  • 773;, d?r? adj. & n. toste wyte bred and do yt in dischis, and god Almande mylk.
  • Of the Caucasian race.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1949, chapter=The Green Book, author=Wendell P. Alston, page=3
  • , title=The Negro Motorist Green Book, edition=1949, location=New York, publisher=Victor H. Green , passage=
  • Designated for use by Caucasians.
  • Relatively light or pale in colour.
  • Pale or pallid, as from fear, illness, etc.
  • * (Lord Byron) (1788-1824)
  • Or whispering with white lips, "The foe! / They come! they come!"
  • (label) Containing cream, milk or creamer.
  • The standard denomination of the playing pieces of a board game deemed to belong to the white set, no matter what the actual colour.
  • Pertaining to an ecclesiastical order whose adherents dress in white habits; Cistercian.
  • * :
  • NOw rydeth Galahalt yet withouten shelde / and so rode four dayes without ony aduenture / And at the fourth day after euensonge / he came to a whyte Abbay / and there was he receyued with grete reuerence / and ledde vnto a chambre / and there was he vnarmed / And thenne was he ware of knyghtes of the table round
  • Honourable, fair; decent.
  • * (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • White as thy fame, and as thy honour clear.
  • * (Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • No whiter page than Addison's remains.
  • *
  • * 1953 , (Raymond Chandler), The Long Goodbye , Penguin, 2010, p.12:
  • *:‘We've only met twice and you've been more than white to me both times.’
  • *
  • Lacking coloration from ultraviolet light.
  • Grey, as from old age; having silvery hair; hoary.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • Your high engendered battles 'gainst a head / So old and white as this.
  • (label) Characterized by freedom from that which disturbs, and the like; fortunate; happy; favourable.
  • * Sir (Walter Scott) (1771-1832)
  • On the whole, however, the dominie reckoned this as one of the white days of his life.
  • (label) Regarded with especial favour; favourite; darling.
  • * (Geoffrey Chaucer) (c.1343-1400)
  • Come forth, my white spouse.
  • * (1586-c.1639)
  • I am his white boy, and will not be gulled.
  • (label) Pertaining to constitutional or anti-revolutionary political parties or movements.
  • * 1932 , (Duff Cooper), Talleyrand , Folio Society, 2010, p.163:
  • Aimée de Coigny had always adopted with enthusiasm the political views of her ruling lover and she had thus already held nearly every shade of opinion from red republicanism to white reaction.

    Antonyms

    * (bright and colourless) black, nonwhite, unwhite * (of coffee) black * (lacking coloration) tanned

    Synonyms

    * (lacking coloration) fair, pale

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The color/colour of snow or milk; the colour of light containing equal amounts of all visible wavelengths.
  • A Caucasian person.
  • The albumen of bird eggs (egg white).
  • (anatomy) The sclera, white of the eye.
  • Any butterfly of the Pieris genus.
  • (sports, billiards, snooker, pool) The cue ball in cue games.
  • (countable, and, uncountable) wine.
  • * {{quote-song
  • , year = 1977 , title = (Scenes from an Italian Restaurant) , composer = (Billy Joel) , album = , passage = A bottle of red, a bottle of white / It all depends upon your appetite / I'll meet you any time you want / In our Italian Restaurant. }}
  • (slang) Street name for cocaine.
  • (archery) The central part of the butt, which was formerly painted white; the centre of a mark at which a missile is shot.
  • * Shakespeare
  • 'Twas I won the wager, though you hit the white .
  • A white pigment.
  • Venice white

    Derived terms

    (terms derived from "white") * black-and-white * egg white * flake white * flat white * great white shark * honorary white * Large White * non-white * off-white,offwhite * snow-white * Snow White * titanium white * white heat * white admiral * white alkali * white area * white as a sheet * white as driven snow * white ash * white as snow * White Australia Policy * white bacon * white bear * white belt * white blood cell * white book * white bread * white bryony * white cell * white chip * white Chirstmas * white chocolate * white cloud * white clover * white coal * white corpuscle * white crappie * white currant * white dwarf * white elephant * White Ensign * white feather * white fish * white flag * white flight * white flour * white fox * white frost * white gasoline * white gold * white goods * white gum * white hole * white hope * white horse * White House * white hunter * white knight * white lady * white lead * white leather * white lie * white light * white lightning * white lime * white line * white list * white magic * white man * white marlin * white matter * white meat * white metal * white mica * white mustard * white night * white noise * white out * white pages * white pepper * white pointer * white power * white pudding * white radish * white rice * white room * white rust * white sale * white sapphire * White Sea * white sheep * white-shoe * white space * white spirit * white stick * white sugar * white tie * white vitriol * white water * white wedding * white witch * whitebait * whitebeam * whiteboard * white-bread * white-breasted sea eagle * whitecap * whitecoat * white-collar * white-collar crime * white-collar worker * white-crowned sparrow * whitecurrant * whitedamp * white-eye * whiteface * white-faced * white-faced heron * whitefly * white-footed mouse * white-glove building * white-haired * white-headed * white-hot * white-knuckle * white-kuckle ride * white-livered * whitely * whiten * whiteness * white-out * whiter than white * whites * white-shoe firm * white-sided dolphin * whitesmith * white-tablecloth restaurant * whitethroat * white-tie * whitewall * whitewall tire * whitewash * whitewater rafting * whitish

    See also

    * * leucite * leukoma * leukosis * Sauvignon blanc * Svetambara * terra alba * (Race)

    Verb

    (whit)
  • To make white; to whiten; to bleach.
  • Whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of uncleanness. — Matthew xxiii. 27.
    So as no fuller on earth can white them. — Mark ix. 3.

    Statistics

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