Forms: 5–6 whytynge, whitynge, (5 wytenge, -yng), 6 whyting, -yng, whityng, -inge, 7 whytting, Sc. quhiting, quhittine, 8 whitting, Sc. whyten, 8–9 Sc. whiten, 6– whiting. [ad. (M)Du. wijting, also † wittingh, MLG. wîtink ‘aculeja,’ ‘amia,’ ‘asellus’; app. f. WHITE a. + -ING3. (The formal analogue ON. hvítingr = a kind of whale, etc.) Cf. WHITEFISH.]
1. A gadoid fish of the genus Merlangus, esp. M. vulgaris, a small fish with pearly white flesh, abundant off the coast of Great Britain, and highly esteemed as food.
14[?]. Nom., in Wr.-Wülcker, 705/23. Hic glaucus, a whytynge.
c. 1425. Voc., ibid. 642/8. Hic clamitus, wytyng.
1433. Stonor Papers (Camden), I. 49. In xij podryd [= powdered] wytyng, viij d.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 23 b. He robbed certein poore Fisshermen of Whitynges.
1620. Venner, Via Recta, iv. 76. The Whiting, notwithstanding that it is vnsauourie, and nourisheth very litle, is of some greatly … commended.
1664. in Maitl. Club Misc. (1840), II. 505. For a dishe of quhitingis 001 16 00. Ibid., 506. For a dishe of dryed quhittines 003 00 00.
1721. in W. Macfarlane, Geogr. Collect. (S.H.S.), I. 39. The seas abound with … turbet, Scate, Mackrel, Haddocks, whittings.
1724. Ramsay, Tea-t. Misc. (1733), I. 91. And there will be partans and buckies And whytens and speldings enew.
1769. Pennant, Brit. Zool., III. 155. Whitings appear in vast shoals on our seas in the spring.
1843. Penny Cycl., XXVII. 347/1. Whiting … is easily distinguished from the cod, haddock, and bib by the absence of the barbule on the chin.
b. Locally applied to fishes of other genera.
(a) Some fresh-water fish found in Wales; also, a name on the Solway Firth and in the south of Scotland for a small fish of the salmon family, of uncertain identity, perhaps the young of the salmon-trout, Salmo trutta (cf. WHITLING). (b) In U.S., A fish of the genus Menticirrus; also applied to the silver hake, and to the menhaden. (c) In Australia, A fish of the genus Sillago: see quot. 1882.
1587. Churchyard, Worthines of Wales, N. A Poole there is, through which this Cloyd doth passe, Where is a Fish, that some a Whiting call.
1774. Ann. Reg., Misc. Ess., 163. [Bala] lake produces very fine trout, and a fish called whiting, peculiar to itself.
1795. Statist. Acc. Scot., XIV. 410. There is abundance of fish,… in Esk,… such as salmon, grilse, sea trout, and whitens.
1873. T. Gill, Catal. Fishes E. Coast N. Amer., 18. Merlucius bilinearis … American hake; silver hake (Maine); whiting (Mass.). Ibid., 27. Menticirrus alburnus … Carolina whiting. Ibid. Menticirrus nebulosus … King-fish; whiting.
1882. Tenison-Woods, Fish N. S. W., 65. The ‘whitings’ are not like those of Europe. There are … four Australian species—the common sand whiting (Sillago maculata),… the trumpeter whiting (Sillago bassensis),… Sillago punctata, the whiting of Melbourne … and Sillago ciliata.
1888. Goode, Amer. Fishes, 81. The Norfolk Hog-fish Pomodasys fulvomaculatus … is the … ‘Pork-fish’ and ‘Whiting’ at Key West.
2. Allusive uses of sense 1. a. In proverbial phr.
With quot. 1721 cf. WHITE a. 10.
1562. J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 64. There lepte a whityng (quoth she) and lept in streite.
1570. Marr. Wit & Sci., IV. i. But he that takes not such time while he maye, Shal leape at a whyting when time is a waye.
1670. Ray, Prov., 199. To let leap a whiting. i. e. To let slip an opportunity.
1721. Kelly, Sc. Prov., 158. He gave me Whitings, but Bones. That is, he gave me fair Words. The Scots call Flatteries Whitings, and Flatterers white People.
1808. Jamieson, s.v. Quhyte, A proverbial phrase, still used to denote flattery: ‘He kens how to butter a whiting.’
† b. As a term of endearment: cf. whiting-mop (see 5). Also whiting’s eye, an amorous look, a leer.
c. 1529. Skelton, E. Rummyng, 223. He callyth me his whytyng.
1673. Wycherley, Gent. Dancing-Master, IV. i. I saw her … give him the languishing Eye,… the Whitings Eye, of old called the Sheeps Eye.
† 3. = White pudding: see WHITE a. 11 e. Obs.
1674. N. Fairfax, Bulk & Selv., 159. As the Darbyshire huswife [sorts out] her puddings when she makes whitings and blackings, and liverings and hackings.
4. (See quot.)
1792. G. Cartwright, Jrnl. Labrador, III. p. x. Whitings, trees which have been barked, and left standing.
5. attrib. and Comb. (in sense 1), as whiting-ground [GROUND sb. 12], -monger, -season; † whiting-mop, a young whiting; also as a term of endearment for a girl (see MOP sb.4). Also in names of fishes resembling the whiting, as whiting perch, POLLACK, POUT (sb.1), salmon (see quots.).
1891. Daily News, 31 Oct., 6/5. About two hundred fishing boats were lying at anchor off the edge of the *whiting grounds about three miles outside Plymouth breakwater.
1599. Nashe, Lenten Stuff, 29. Colchester oystermen, or *whiting-mungers and sprot-catchers.
1803. Shaw, Gen. Zool., IV. 548. *Whiting Perch. Perca Alburnus.
1686. Ray, Willughby’s Hist. Pisc., IV. ii. 167. Asellus Huitingo-Pollachius:… A *Whiting Pollack.
1758. Descr. Thames, 222. The Whiting-Pollack … has this Name given it here, from its Likeness to a Whiting.
1862. Ansted, Channel Isl., II. ix. 211. Next … in abundance are the whiting pollack … and the gar-fish or green bone.
a. 1672. Willughby, Hist. Pisc. (1686), Tab. L. membr. i. n. 4. Asellus mollis latus. *Whiting Poutes Londinensibus.
1758. Descr. Thames, 222. The Whiting-Pout is remarkably broad, in Proportion to its Length.
1804. Shaw, Gen. Zool., V. 54. *Whiting Salmon, Salmo Phinoc.
1791. W. Gilpin, Forest Scenery, II. 190. In the *whiting-season … fleets of twenty or thirty boats are often seen lying at anchor on the banks.
