Online Etymology Dictionary

whisk (n.): late 14c., "quick stroke, sweeping movement," probably from Old Norse visk "wisp," from Proto-Germanic *wisk- "move quickly" (cf. Middle Dutch wisch, Dutch wis, Old High German wisc, German wisch "wisp, brush"), from PIE root *weis- "to turn, twist" (cf. Sanskrit veskah "noose," Czech vechet "a wisp of straw"). Meaning "implement for beating eggs, etc." first recorded 1570s.
whisk (v.): late 15c., from a Scandinavian source (cf. Danish viske, Norwegian, Swedish viska) related to Old English wiscian "to plait," weoxian "to clean" (with a whisk or brush), granwisc "awn" (see whisk (n.)).
whisker (n.): "hair of a man's face" (usually plural), c.1600, originally a playful formation, from Middle English wisker "anything that whisks or sweeps" (early 15c.); see whisk (v.). In reference to animal lip hair, recorded from 1670s.
whiskey (n.): 1715, from Gaelic uisge beatha "whisky," literally "water of life," from Old Irish uisce "water" + bethu "life." The Gaelic is probably a loan-translation of Medieval Latin aqua vitae, which had been applied to intoxicating drinks since early 14c. (cf. French eau de vie "brandy"). Other early spellings in English include usquebea (1706) and iskie bae (1580s). Distinction between Scotch whisky and Irish and American whiskey is a 19c. innovation. Whisky sour is recorded from 1889.
whisky: see whiskey.
whisper (v.): Old English hwisprian "speak very softly" (only in a Northumbrian gloss for Latin murmurare), from Proto-Germanic *khwis- (cf. Middle Dutch wispelen, Old High German hwispalon, German wispeln, wispern, Old Norse hviskra "to whisper"), imitative and probably related to Old English hwistlian "to whistle." Related: Whispered; whispering. The noun is from 1590s.
whist (n.): card game, 1660s, alteration of whisk "kind of card game," alluded to as early as 1520s, perhaps so called from the notion of "whisking" up cards after each trick; altered perhaps from assumption that it was an interjection invoking silence, from whist "silent" (Middle English).
whistle (v.): Old English hwistlian, from Proto-Germanic *khwis-, of imitative origin. Used also in Middle English of the hissing of serpents. Related: Whistled; whistling. To whistle for (with small prospect of getting) is probably from nautical whistling for a wind. To whistle "Dixie" is from 1940.
whistle (n.): "tubular musical instrument," Old English hwistle (see whistle (v.)). To wet one's whistle "take a drink" (late 14c.) originally may have referred to pipes, or be an allusion to the throat as a sort of pipe. Phrase clean as a whistle is recorded from 1878. Railroad whistle stop (at which trains stop only if the engineer hears a signal from the station) is recorded from 1934.
whistleblower (n.): in the figurative sense, by 1970, American English, from whistle (as something sounded in an alert) + agent noun from blow (v.1). Earlier in U.S. sports slang sense "referee."
whit (n.): "smallest particle," 12c., in na whit "no amount," from Old English nan wiht, from wiht "amount," originally "person, human being" (see wight).
white (n.): Old English hwit, from Proto-Germanic *khwitaz (cf. Old Saxon and Old Frisian hwit, Old Norse hvitr, Dutch wit, Old High German hwiz, German weiß, Gothic hveits), from PIE *kwintos/*kwindos "bright" (cf. Sanskrit svetah "white;" Old Church Slavonic sviteti "to shine," svetu "light;" Lithuanian sviesti "to shine," svaityti "to brighten").

As a surname, originally with reference to fair hair or complexion, it is one of the oldest in English, being well-established before the Conquest. Meaning "morally pure" was in Old English. Association with royalist causes is late 18c. Slang sense of "honorable, fair" is 1877, American English. The racial sense (adj.) of "of those races (chiefly European or of European extraction) characterized by light complexion" is first recorded c.1600. The noun in this sense ("white man, person of a race distinguished by light complexion") is from 1670s; whitey in this sense is recorded from 1828. White supremacy attested from 1902; white flight is from 1967.

White heat "state of intense or extreme emotion" first recorded 1839. White lie is attested from 1741. White Christmas is attested from 1857. White House at the U.S. presidential residence is recorded from 1811. White water "river rapids" is recorded from 1580s. White Russian "language of Byelorussia" is recorded from 1850; the mixed drink is from c.1978. White-collar as an adjective is from 1921; white-collar crime attested by 1964 (there is a white-collar criminaloids from 1934). Astronomical white dwarf is from 1924.
white bread: c.1300, as opposed to darker whole-grain type; its popularity among middle-class America led to the slang sense of "conventional, bourgeois" (c.1980).
white elephant (n.): 1851, "inconvenient thing that can't be got rid of," supposedly from the practice of the King of Siam of presenting one of the sacred albino elephants to a courtier who had fallen from favor; the gift was a great honor, but the cost of proper upkeep of one was ruinously expensive.
white feather (n.): as a symbol of cowardice, 1785, supposedly from game-cocks, "where having a white feather, is proof he is not of the true game breed" [Grose].
white hope: c.1912, originally in sporting use in reference to the quest for a white man capable of beating champion pugilist Jack Johnson.
white meat: meat of poultry, pigs, etc., as opposed to red meat, is recorded from 1752; earlier it meant "foods prepared from milk" (early 15c.). Black slang sense of "white women as sex partners" is from 1920s.
white noise: "sound made up of a random mixture of frequencies and intensities," attested by 1970.
white out (n.): 1946 as an extreme snow condition on the U.S. prairie; 1977 as a liquid correction for paper.
white trash (n.): 1831, originally Southern U.S. black slang.
The slaves themselves entertain the very highest contempt for white servants, whom they designate as 'poor white trash.' [Fanny Kemble, journal, Jan. 6, 1833]
whitecap (n.): 1660s, of birds, from white + cap (n.). Attested from 1773 in reference to breaking waves, from 1818 of mushrooms, and from 1891 in reference to "one of a self-constituted band in U.S. who committed outrages under pretense of regulating public morals" [OED].
whitewash (v.): 1590s, "to wash a building surface with white liquid," from white + wash. Figurative sense of "to cover up, conceal" is attested from 1762. Related: Whitewashed; whitewashing. The noun is recorded from 1690s.
whither: Old English hwider, from Proto-Germanic *khwi- "who" (see who) + -der as in hither and thither. Cf. Gothic hvadre.
whitlow (n.): "inflammation on a finger or toe," mid-15c., alteration of whitflaw (c.1400), from flaw, with first element possibly from Dutch vijt or Low German fit "abscess."
Whitsun: late 13c., contraction of Whitsunday.
Whitsunday: "Pentecost," late Old English Hwita Sunnandæg "white Sunday," possibly from the white baptismal robes worn by newly baptized Christians on this day.
whittle (v.): 1550s, "to cut thin shavings from (something) with a knife," from Middle English whittel "a knife" (c1400), variant of thwittle (late 14c.), from Old English þwitan "to cut," from Proto-Germanic *thwitanan (cf. Old Norse þveita "to hew"). Figurative sense is attested from 1746. Related: Whittled; whittling.
whiz (n.): "clever person," 1914, probably a special use of whiz "something remarkable" (1908), an extended sense of whizz; or perhaps a shortened form of wizard. Noun phrase whiz kid is from 1930s, a take-off on a radio show's quiz kid.
whizbang (n.): 1915, originally a soldier's name for a type of German artillery shell in World War I, so called by the Allied troops in reference to its characteristic sound.
whizz (v.): "make or move with a humming, hissing sound," 1540s, of imitative origin. Meaning "to urinate" is from 1929. Related: Whizzed; whizzing. The noun is recorded from 1610s.
who (pron.): Old English hwa, from Proto-Germanic *khwas, *khwes, *khwo (cf. Old Saxon hwe, Danish hvo, Swedish vem, Old Frisian hwa, Dutch wie, Old High German hwer, German wer, Gothic hvo (fem.) "who"), from PIE *kwo- (cf. Sanskrit kah "who, which;" Avestan ko, Hittite kuish "who;" Latin quis/quid "in what respect, to what extent; how, why," qua "where, which way," qui/quae/quod "who, which;" Lithuanian kas "who;" Old Church Slavonic kuto, Russian kto "who;" Old Irish ce, Welsh pwy "who").
whoa: 1620s, a cry to call attention from a distance, a variant of who. As a command to stop a horse, it is attested from 1843, a variant of ho. As an expression of delight or surprise (1980s) it has gradually superseded wow, which was very popular 1960s.
whodunit (n.): "murder mystery," 1930, U.S. slang, originally a semi-facetious formation from who done it?
whoever: late Old English hwa efre.
whole (adj.): Old English hal "entire, unhurt, healthy," from Proto-Germanic *khailaz "undamaged" (cf. Old Saxon hel, Old Norse heill, Old Frisian hal, Middle Dutch hiel, Dutch heel, Old High German, German heil "salvation, welfare"), from PIE *koilas (cf. Old Church Slavonic celu "whole, complete;" see health). The spelling with wh- developed early 15c. The sense in whole number is from early 14c. For phrase whole hog, see hog.
whole (n.): "entire body or company; the full amount," late 14c., from whole (adj.).
whole cloth: early 15c., "piece of cloth of full size," as opposed to a piece cut out for a garment; figurative sense first attested 1570s.
whole nine yards: by 1970, of unknown origin; perhaps arbitrary (cf. cloud nine). Among the guesses that have been made without real evidence: concrete mixer trucks were said to have dispensed in this amount. Or the yard may be in the slang sense of "one hundred dollars."

Several similar phrases meaning "everything" arose in the 1940s (whole ball of wax, which is likewise of obscure origin, whole schmear); older examples include whole hog (see hog (n.)) and whole shooting match (1896); whole shebang (1895).
wholehearted (adj.): also whole-hearted, 1840, from whole + hearted. Related: Wholeheartedly.
wholeness (n.): mid-14c., from whole (adj.) + -ness.
wholesale: early 15c., "in large quantities," from whole + sale; the general sense of "extensive" is attested from 1640s.
wholesome (adj.): c.1200, "of benefit to the soul," from whole (in the "healthy" sense) + -some. Physical sense first attested late 14c. Related: Wholesomely; wholesomeness.
wholistic (adj.): 1941, from holistic crossed with whole. Related: wholism (1939).
wholly (adv.): c.1300, probably from Old English *hallice; see whole + -ly (2).
whom: Old English hwam, the dative form of hwa (see who).
whomp (n.): 1926, echoic of the sound of a heavy blow or something falling heavily.
whomp (v.): 1952, from whomp (n.). Related: Whomped; whomping.
whoop (v.): mid-14c., houpen, partly imitative, partly from Old French houper "to cry out," also imitative. It is attested as an interjection from at least mid-15c. The noun is recorded from c.1600. Extended form whoopee is attested from 1845, originally American English; whoopee cushion is attested from 1960. Phrase whoop it up "create a disturbance" is recorded from 1884. Expression whoop-de-do is recorded from 1929. Whooping cough (1739) is now the prevalent spelling of hooping cough; whooping crane is recorded from 1791.
whoops: exclamation of dismay, 1925; see oops.
whoosh: 1856, of imitative origin.