Emily Dickinson Lexicon

white (-r), adj. [OE.] (webplay: age, color, corn, dark, eye, face, fear, hair, leaves, lilies, man, rising, robe, snow, trees).

1. Glorious; heavenly; celestial; divine; angelic; (see Daniel 7:9; Matthew 17:1-2, 28:2-3).
2. Elect; called to be a bride; chosen as a candidate; [fig.] resurrected; glorified; sanctified; redeemed; (see Revelation 3:4, 9:7-14).
3. Lily-colored; snowy-covered.
4. Snowy; frosty; frozen; icy; cold; chilling; winter-colored; blank; [fig.] empty; deathly; reminiscent of death.
5. Virginal; innocent; chaste; clothed in traditional immaculate bridal garments; (see Revelation 19:7-8).
6. Lovely; delightful; radiant.
7. Supernatural; ghostly; eerie; frightening; spectral; other worldly.
8. Pure; clean; untainted; unblemished; [fig.] sinless; spotless; of clear conscience; (see Psalm 51:7).
9. Spiritual; intangible; incorporeal; invisible; pertaining to the spirit, thoughts, emotions, consciousness of a person.
10. Unknown; unknowable; final; ultimate; crowning; supreme.
11. Delicate; fragile; ethereal; airy; bland; bleak; insipid; subdued in color.
12. Pale; pallid; translucent; waxen; colorless; bloodless; [like a candle made from sperm whale oil; see sperm.]
13. Phrase. “Lady white”: lily; fragrant flower; internal portion of the Easter lily bulb which nourishes the germinating embryo of the plant during the winter, never rising from the ground itself, but enabling the lily to sprout in the spring; [fig.] death; snow; entity awaiting or enabling resurrection.
14. Phrase. “White heat”: refiner's fire; intense trial; most intense moment of spiritual purification; point in the metallurgy process when heated metal glows brightly.
15. Phrase. “White Election”: sanctification; justification by Christ's sacrifice; white robes worn by candidates for an election in ancient Rome; worthy status of those who are nominated for membership in the Congregational Church.
16. Phrase. “White flag”: sign of truce; token of peaceful intention; signal that a deadly battle is over.
17. Phrase. “White Sustenance”: manna (see Exodus 16; Numbers 11); monotonous diet; tiresome nourishment; food perceived as being insufficient; [fig.] emptiness; blankness; despair; dolor; melancholy; substitute for the physical presence of a loved one.
18. Phrase. “White foot”: underpart of a ship; part of the hull of a boat that is underwater; small sailing vessel resembling a brig.