Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
white book

white book

7.0
An official government report that explains policy and plans
  • noun
  • /waɪt bʊk/
  • UK
translation icon : libro blanco
  • The professor referred to the white book for the official guidelines on thesis submission.

Examples

  • After much discussion, the council decided to publish a white book to inform the public about the new regulations.

  • I just think that the white book is easier for beginners.

  • The white book with the blood-red 'insides' was inspired by a Japanese version of Shakespeare's Pericles we saw at the National Theatre in 2003; one of the costumes has stuck in my mind for years.

    Blog text (27)

  • The government released a new white book detailing its policies on climate change.

Synonyms

white paper
vswhite book
  • Formal
11 5.6

An official report that explains plans or how something works

is issued only by government as an official authoritative publication
written report
vswhite book
4 2.9

A document that gives information or findings after someone studies a topic

is an official government publication rather than a general document

Surface Forms

white book singular
white books plural

Morphology

white + book

The literal composition ('white' + 'book') would suggest a book that is white, but in institutional/administrative usage it denotes an official government report. This conventionalized, genre-specific meaning exists cross-linguistically (e.g. French 'livre blanc', Spanish 'libro blanco', German 'Weißbuch'), so the link is partially transparent but relies on cultural/genre knowledge and is not fully predictable from the parts for an average B1 learner.

Etymology

White book comes from the old habit of printing important government reports as plain books with white covers. Because people pictured a plain white cover and a book full of official facts, the name came to mean 'an official report'.