白紙
also: しらかみ
Meanings
Refers to paper that is white, and in book contexts can mean a blank leaf such as a flyleaf. The flyleaf use is more specialized than the everyday sense of blank paper.
This book has a flyleaf after the cover.
noun, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'
blank paper; blank sheet
Used for a sheet or form with nothing written or printed on it; also used adjectivally with の, as in 白紙の答案.
He submitted a blank answer sheet.
Please give me a blank sheet for notes.
clean slate; no prior position; open mind
Figurative use for having no predetermined opinion, stance, plan, or assumptions before considering something.
We will consider that proposal from a neutral, undecided position.
from scratch; back to the beginning
Especially common in fixed phrases such as 白紙に戻す and 白紙に戻る, meaning to cancel what has been decided and return to the starting point.
See also: 白紙に戻す
Let's return the plan to square one for now and rethink it.
The negotiations went back to square one.
Usage patterns
- 白紙の〈物〉a blank (unfilled) item such as a form or answer sheet
He handed in a blank answer sheet.
- 白紙で〈動詞〉to approach something with no preconceptions or fixed opinion
I intend to go into the negotiations with an open mind.
- 〈事〉を白紙にするto scrap or nullify a plan or decision, returning to the starting point
It was decided to scrap that plan entirely.
- 白紙から〈動詞〉to start something completely from scratch
I thought up a new design starting from a blank slate.