Etymology

whiting

W4H4I1T1I1N1G2

Today it means: A fine white chalk used in paints, putty, whitewash etc. Full definition →

English white ← Middle English whit ← Old English hwīt
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whiting · noun, verb1

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

From white + -ing.

whiting · noun2

  1. Old English · inherited fromhwītling“whiting”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromwhityng
  3. English todaywhiting

From Middle English whityng, whytyng, perhaps an alteration of Old English hwītling (“whiting”), remodelled after white + -ing (diminutive suffix). Related to the colour white. Cognate with Dutch wijting (“whiting”), Old Norse hvítingr (“a kind of whale”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.