alba

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ălʹbə, IPA^(key): /ˈæl.bə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Etymology 1

First attested in 1821; borrowed from Occitan alba, ultimately from Latin albus (“white”); compare Spanish alba (“dawn”).

Noun

alba (plural albas)

1. (poetry) A type of lyrical poetry, traditionally Provençal, about lovers who must part at dawn.

Translations

Further reading

• Alba (poetry) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

First attested in 1848; borrowed from Latin alba (the feminine form of albus (“white”)) in the now-disused species name of binomial nomenclature Rosa alba (it is now considered a hybrid and is accordingly called Rosa × alba).

Noun

alba (plural albas)

1. A white-flowered shrub rose of the hybrid Rosa × alba.
2. A flower of the hybrid Rosa × alba.

Derived terms

Further reading

• List of Rosa species on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 3

First attested in 1859; borrowed from Latin alba, the nominative plural form of album (“blank tablet”), whence the English album.

Noun

alba pl

1. (rare) plural of album
   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:alba.

Etymology 4

Borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin alba (“alb”), from Latin alba (as in tunica alba (“white tunic”), vestis alba (“white garment”)), feminine of albus (“white”). Doublet of alb.

Noun

alba (plural albas)

1. Synonym of alb
   • 1857, Isaac F Holton, “Montserrate and the Boqueron”, in New Granada: Twenty Months in the Andes, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, page 217:

     On a little plot of grass near the kitchen the family were spreading out a large supply of priestly vestments—albas, casullas, capas pluviales, ornamentos, parmentos, cíngulas, estolas, frontales, etc., etc., etc.

   • 1932, Theodore Komisarjevsky, The Costume of the Theatre, page 56:

     Christ, whom they meet, must wear an alba and an amictus, be barefooted, and carry a cross on the left shoulder.

   • 1979, Yearbook, Board of Publication of the Lutheran Church in America, page 494:

     Traditional styles such as cassocks and cottas, or contemporary trends in robes and collars, choir albas, skirts, caps and acolyte vestments.

   • 2000, Ivo Hlobil, Ladislav Daniel, editors, The Last Flowers of the Middle Ages: From the Gothic to the Renaissance in Moravia and Silesia, →ISBN, page 304:

     Another canon with a biretta in his hand, wearing an alba and an upper fur mucia, is kneeling to the left of the Crucifix;

Anagrams

• AABL, Ba'al, Baal, Bala, Baʿal, LABA, baal, blaa, laab

Asturian

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *alba, from Latin albus (“white”).

Noun

alba f (plural albes)

1. dawn

Synonyms

• amanecer

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *alba, from Latin albus (“white”).

Noun

alba f (plural albes)

1. dawn
2. (Catholicism, liturgy) the white tunic worn by priests

Alternative forms

• auba

Etymology 2

Noun

alba f (plural albes)

1. Alternative form of àlber (“white poplar”)

Further reading

• “alba” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “alba”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “alba” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Chickasaw

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alˈba/

Noun

alba (alienable)

1. a weed
2. an uncultivated plant

Inflection

Derived terms

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Rhymes: -alba

Noun

alba

1. inflection of album:
   1. genitive singular
   2. nominative/accusative/vocative plural

Finnish

Etymology

From Latin alba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑlbɑ/,
• Rhymes: -ɑlbɑ
• Syllabification^(key): al‧ba

Noun

alba

1. An alb; a long white gown worn in various Christian ceremonies by the priest or the parishioners, especially in a confirmation by the people who are being confirmed

Declension

Further reading

• “alba”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

Galician

Alternative forms

• alva (reintegrationist)

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese alva (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Vulgar Latin *alba, the feminine of albus (“white”). Cognate with Portuguese alva.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

alba f (plural albas)

1. dawn

   Synonyms: alborada, abrente

References

• “alva” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
• “alba” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “alba” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Icelandic

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈalpa/
• Homophone: Alba

Noun

alba f (genitive singular ölbu, nominative plural ölbur)

1. alb (priestly robe)

Declension

Istriot

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *alba, from Latin albus (“white”).

Noun

alba f

1. dawn

Italian

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *alba, from Latin albus (“white”). Compare French aube.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈal.ba/
• Rhymes: -alba
• Hyphenation: àl‧ba

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

alba f (plural albe)

1. dawn, daybreak, break of day

   Synonym: aurora

   • 1926, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Adami, Renato Simoni (lyrics and music), “Nessun dorma”, in Turandot:

     Dilegua, o notte! Tramontate, stelle! Tramontate, stelle! All'alba, vincerò! Vincerò! Vincerò!

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. sunrise

   Synonyms: aurora, levar del sole

   • 2017, Baby K (lyrics and music), “Voglio ballare con te”, performed by Andrés Ceballos:

     Voglio vedere le luci dell’alba cambiare colore

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

• albeggiare
• albino

See also

• (times of day) parte del giorno; aurora,‎ alba,‎ mattino/‎mattina,‎ mezzogiorno,‎ pomeriggio,‎ tramonto,‎ crepuscolo,‎ sera,‎ notte,‎ mezzanotte ^{(Category: it:Time)}

Anagrams

• Baal

Latin

Pronunciation

• alba: (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈal.ba/,
• alba: (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈal.ba/,
• albā: (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈal.baː/,
• albā: (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈal.ba/,

Etymology 1

From albus (“white”).

Noun

alba f (genitive albae); first declension

1. a white precious stone, the pearl
2. (VL.) dawn

Declension

First-declension noun.

References

• “alba”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• alba in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• alba in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “alba”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

alba

1. inflection of albus:
   1. nominative/vocative feminine singular
   2. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter plural

Adjective

albā

1. ablative feminine singular of albus

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin alba (“white”).

Noun

alba m (definite singular albaen, indefinite plural albaer, definite plural albaene)

1. (Christianity) alb

References

• “alba” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “alba” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin alba (“white”).

Noun

alba m (definite singular albaen, indefinite plural albaar or albaer, definite plural albaane or albaene)

1. (Christianity) alb

References

• “alba” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *albijā, from Proto-Celtic *albiyū (“(upper) world; high mountain; alpine pasture”), from Proto-Indo-European *albʰós (“white”).

Noun

alba f

1. alpine pasture
2. alp

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

alba

Wikipedia ^pl

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈal.ba/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -alba
• Syllabification: al‧ba
• Homophone: Alba

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin alba. First attested in 1528.

Noun

alba f

1. (Anglicanism, Lutheranism, Roman Catholicism) alb (long white robe worn by ministers at religious ceremonies)

   Coordinate term: komża

   białe alby ― white albs

Declension

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Occitan alba. First attested in the 20th century.

Noun

alba f

1. (historical, poetry) alba (genre of Old Occitan lyric poetry)

Declension

Etymology 3

Borrowed from German Halbe. First attested in the 17th century.

Noun

alba f

1. Middle Polish form of halba

Declension

References

Further reading

• alba in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• alba in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “alba”, in Słownik języka polskiego‎
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “alba”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861‎
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “alba”, in Słownik języka polskiego‎ (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 22

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin albus (“white”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -albɐ, (Brazil) -awbɐ
• Hyphenation: al‧ba

Noun

alba f (plural albas)

1. dawn, daybreak

   Synonyms: alva, aurora

Romanian

Etymology

Definite form of albă, from Latin alba, feminine of albus. For the sense of "dawn" or "sunrise", see Vulgar Latin *alba, whence also Spanish and Italian alba, French aube, Portuguese alva.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈal.ba/

Adjective

alba

1. definite feminine singular nominative/accusative of alb

Noun

alba f (plural albe)

1. (popular) dawn, daybreak, sunrise

   Synonyms: zori, auroră, răsărit

Sicilian

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *alba, from Latin albus (“white”).

Noun

alba f

1. dawn

Sidamo

Etymology

From Proto-Cushitic. Cognates include Gedeo አልበ (alba).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈalba/
• Hyphenation: al‧ba

Noun

alba m 

1. face
2. front
3. living room

Usage notes

• A traditional Sidamo house may combine the alba with a kitchen. The other room is called the holge.

References

• Kazuhiro Kawachi (2007) A grammar of Sidaama (Sidamo), a Cushitic language of Ethiopia, page 33
• Gizaw Shimelis, editor (2007), “alba”, in Sidaama-Amharic-English dictionary, Addis Ababa: Sidama Information and Culture department

Spanish

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *alba, from Latin albus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈalba/

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -alba
• Syllabification: al‧ba

Noun

alba f (plural albas)

1. dawn

   Synonym: amanecer

Usage notes

• Feminine nouns beginning with stressed /ˈa/ like this one regularly take the singular articles el and un, usually reserved for masculine nouns.

  el alba, un alba

• They maintain the usual feminine singular articles la and una if an adjective intervenes between the article and the noun.

Derived terms

Adjective

alba

1. feminine singular of albo

Further reading

• “albo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish alba.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈʔalba/,
• Rhymes: -alba
• Homophone: Alba
• Syllabification: al‧ba

Noun

alba (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜎ᜔ᜊ)

1. (Christianity) alb