Whitehall

See also: White Hall

English

Etymology

From Middle English whit (“white”) + halgh (“corner, nook; hall”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwaɪthɔːl/, /ˈʍaɪthɔːl/

Proper noun

Whitehall (countable and uncountable, plural Whitehalls)

1. A wide street in Westminster between Parliament Square and Trafalgar Square; it houses several government offices.
2. (UK politics, by extension, metonymically) The British government or civil service
   • 2000 July 27, Richard Norton-Taylor, “Analysis: The secret's out”, in the Guardian‎^[1]:

     Britain's securocracy - Whitehall spymasters, backed up by government lawyers, engaged in the increasingly thankless task of preserving state secrets - are faced with an intriguing conundrum. What do they do when the bulwark they have been relying on for so long to protect their secrets crumbles before their eyes?

   • 2020 December 2, Philip Haigh, “When will Wales's wish for rail improvements come true?”, in Rail, page 32:

     It notes: "The Welsh Government's view is that genuine 'levelling up' cannot simply mean a sprinkling of new, ad hoc rail projects decided in Whitehall, it has to be part of a strategic approach to promoting growth in all parts of the UK."

3. An urban district of Bristol, England.
4. Former spelling of White Hall, California.
5. A city and township in Muskegon County, Michigan, United States.
6. A township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States.
7. A city, the county seat of Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, United States.
8. A surname from Middle English.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Whitehall is the 39117^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 563 individuals. Whitehall is most common among White (66.43%) and Black/African American (21.14%) individuals.

See also

• Downing Street

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Whitehall”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 3, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN.