whiteboard

Etymology

It is formed from English white + board, modelled on blackboard.^[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A large board with a white surface for writing or drawing on, especially in classrooms: 1883, in the journal Science, which reported that many teachers and oculists advocated "the substitution of white-boards for black-boards".^[2]

Semantic evolution

The OED's revised entry (2015) finds the word in 1883, but the other dictionaries date it much later: Merriam-Webster Unabridged to 1951,^[6] Etymonline to 1966, where it is a white surface used like a bulletin board,^[4] Encarta to the mid 20th century^[5] and Dictionary.com to 1980–85.^[7] The familiar board of glossy white plastic, written on with erasable markers, is the one the American Heritage Dictionary describes, also called a dry-erase board.^[3] Computing gave the word new senses from 1984: first an electronic board that could send what was written on it to a printer or monitor, later a large touch-sensitive screen on which a computer's display is projected and worked on, the interactive whiteboard of classrooms, and a shared window in web-conferencing software where participants add notes and drawings.^[2][8][9]

Timeline

• 1883 – a board with a white surface for writing or drawing on, as a teaching aid.^[2][10] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates the word to 1951, Etymonline to 1966.^[6][4]
• 1984 – in computing, an electronic board or screen that passes what is written on it to a printer or monitor; later, an interactive whiteboard.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A board with a smooth white surface, usually of plastic, written or drawn on with erasable markers, used in teaching and presentations: The coach sketched the play on the whiteboard.^{[3][6][11][12]}
2. An interactive whiteboard: a large touch-sensitive screen onto which a computer's display is projected and on which it can be worked.^[2][9][11]
3. In computing, an area of a screen or a program window shared by several users, who can add text, notes or drawings to it, as in web conferencing.^[2][8][9]

Related words

• blackboard
• white
• board

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Encarta World English Dictionary (2009 ed.), Redmond: Microsoft
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
10. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press