albus

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See also: Albus and albuș

Latin

flōs albus (a white flower)

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *alβos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂elbʰós.

Cognates include Umbrian 𐌀𐌋𐌚𐌖 (alfu), Ancient Greek ἀλφός (alphós, whiteness, white leprosy), Hittite 𒀠𒉺𒀸 (alpas, cloud), Middle Welsh elbid (world), English elf, and Russian ле́бедь (lébedʹ, swan).

Pronunciation

Adjective

albus (feminine alba, neuter album, comparative albior, superlative albissimus); first/second-declension adjective

  1. white (properly without luster), dull white
    • 8 CE, Ovid, Metamorphoses 12.402–403:
      totus pice nigrior atra, candida cauda tamen; color est quoque cruribus albus.
      All blacker than pitch was he, yet white was his tail; his legs were snowy white.
    • p. 830, Nennius, Historia Brittonum, II: 42
      duo vermes in eo sunt, unus albus et unus rufus
      "There are," said he, "two serpents, one white and the other red "
  2. clear, bright
  3. pale, fair, gray, hoary
    • p. 1250, Thomas Aquinas, De ente et essentia
      et sic de ipsa aliquid praedicatur per accidens ratione eius, in quo est, sicut dicitur quod homo est albus, quia Socrates est albus, quamvis hoc non conveniat homini in eo quod homo.
      And thus something is accidentally asserted, that is, we say that man is white because Socrates is white, although this does not come about for men because is a man.
  4. (figuratively) favorable, fortunate, auspicious, propitious

Usage notes

Latin albus is used primarily to mean "white" that is dull or matte. The word candidus is used primarily for shining whiteness. However, this distinction is not always followed.

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number Singular Plural
Case / Gender Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative albus alba album albī albae alba
Genitive albī albae albī albōrum albārum albōrum
Dative albō albō albīs
Accusative album albam album albōs albās alba
Ablative albō albā albō albīs
Vocative albe alba album albī albae alba

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Balkan Romance:
    • Aromanian: albu, alb
    • Istro-Romanian: åb
    • Megleno-Romanian: alb
    • Romanian: alb
  • Dalmatian:
  • Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Ibero-Romance:
    • Mozarabic: الب (əlb)
    • Old Spanish: obo, oba (in toponyms)
    • Portuguese: alvo
  • Insular Romance:
  • Derived forms:
    • Vulgar Latin: *alba (dawn) (see there for further descendants)
    • Vulgar Latin: albellus (see there for further descendants)
    • Medieval Latin: albinus
    • ⇒ Neo-Latin: albana
  • Borrowings:

See also

Colors in Latin · colōrēs (layout · text)
     albus, candidus, subalbus, niveus, cēreus, marmoreus, eburneus, cānus, blancus (ML.)      glaucus, rāvus, pullus, cinereus, cinerāceus, plumbeusgrīseus (ML. or NL.)      niger, āter, piceus, furvus
             ruber, rūbidus, rūfus, rubicundus, russus, rubrīcus, pūniceusmurrinus, mulleus; cocceus, coccīnus, badius              rutilus, armeniacus, aurantius, aurantiacus; fuscus, suffuscus, colōrius, cervīnus, spādīx, castaneus, aquilus, fulvus, brunneus (ML.)              flāvus, sufflāvus, flāvidus, fulvus, lūteus, gilvus, helvus, croceus, pallidus, blondinus (ML.)
             galbus, galbinus, lūridus              viridis              prasinus
             cȳaneus              caeruleus, azurīnus (ML.), caesius, blāvus (LL.)              glaucus; līvidus; venetus
             violāceus, ianthinus, balaustīnus (NL.)              ostrīnus, amethystīnus              purpureus, ātropurpureus, roseus, rosāceus

References

  • albus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • albus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • albus 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)
  • albus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
  • Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
    • (ambiguous) to record in the official tablets (Annales maximi): in album referre (De Or. 2. 12. 52)
  • albus in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, pre-publication website, 2005-2016