Albanus

Latin

Etymology

Unknown. Suggested as derived from a Western European root *alb- found in various place names, perhaps also the source of Alpes, and/or from a Proto-Indo-European root *alb- (“mountain”) (see *h₂el- (“to rise, be tall”)), or from Proto-Celtic *albo-, *albiyū (“upper realm, world; mountain, Alps”) (whence also Albion). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?).

It is believed that they are related to the modern nation of the Albanians. While it has been identified with the Zgërdhesh hill-fort near Krujë in northern Albania, scholars believe the Illyrian settlement was abandoned in the 2nd century BC, when the inhabitants moved to Durrës and Lezhë.

Possibly related to arbën from Proto-Albanian *arwā, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂rh₃ (“arable land, soil”); compare *h₂erh₃- (“to plough”)

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /alˈbaː.nus/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /alˈba.nus/,

Noun

Albānus m (genitive Albānī, feminine Albāna); second declension

1. Albanian (Balkan Albania, Caucasian Albania and Scotland)
   • 1815, Joannis Severinus Vaterus, Linguarum totius orbis Index alphabeticus, quarum Grammaticae, Lexica, collectiones vocabulorum recensentur, patria significatur, historia adumbratur, Berolini, p. 10:

     Albani in orientali parte Illyriae veteris et Epiri passimque in Dalmatia, Bulgaria, Romania vivunt.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective, with locative.

Proper noun

Albānus m sg (genitive Albānī); second declension

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Alban
2. A river in Albania, now probably the Samur River

Declension

Second-declension noun, with locative, singular only.

Descendants

• Galician: Albán
• Portuguese: Alvão, Albão
• → Ancient Greek: Ἀλβᾰνός (Albanós)
  • Greek: Αλβανός (Alvanós, now means Albanian)

References

• “Albanus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Albanus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “Albanus”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly