Etymology

whitefella

W4H4I1T1E1F4E1L1L1A1

Today it means: A white person (Caucasian person), especially white settler in Australia, especially a man (especially as opposed to an Aboriginal Australian). Full definition →

English fella ← Middle English whit ← Old English hwīt
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱweyt-
  2. Proto-Germanic*hwītaz
  3. Proto-West Germanic*hwīt
  4. Old Englishhwīt
  5. Middle Englishwhit
  6. Englishwhite
  7. Englishfella
  8. English todaywhitefella

From white + fella. Doublet of wadjela.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.