albus

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

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈal.bus/, [ˈäɫ̪bʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈal.bus/, [ˈälbus]

• Audio (Classical)

  (file)

Adjective

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

1. white (properly without luster), dull white
   • 43 BCE – c. 17 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
   • c. 77 CE – 79 CE, Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 14.80:

     colores vinis quattuor: albus, fulvus, sanguineus, niger.

     There are four colors of wine: white, brown, sanguine, and black.

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 [Socrates] 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

• (white): albidus, blancus (medieval), candidus, lacteolus
• (clear, bright): limpidus
• (pale, gray): cānus
• (favorable): bonus, favorābilis

Antonyms

• (dull white): āter

Derived terms

• alba
• albeō
• albicapillus
• albicolor
• albicomus
• albicēris
• albicō
• albidus
• albitūdō
• albogalerus
• albogilvus
• albor
• albulus
• album
• alburnum
• alburnus
• albus an ater sit
• albāmentum
• albārium
• albārius
• albātus
• albēdō
• albēscō
• albīnus
• albūgō
• albūmen
• subalbus

 

Descendants

• Balkan Romance:
  • Aromanian: albu, alb
  • Istro-Romanian: åb
  • Megleno-Romanian: alb
  • Romanian: alb
• Dalmatian:
  • jualb, juolb
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Romansch: alv, alb
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Mozarabic: الب‎ (əlb)
  • Old Spanish: obo, oba (in toponyms)
  • Portuguese: alvo
• Insular Romance:
  • Sardinian: abru, alvu, arvu, arbu
• Derived forms:
  • ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *alba (“dawn”) (see there for further descendants)
  • ⇒ Vulgar Latin: albellus (see there for further descendants)
  • ⇒ Medieval Latin: albinus
    • → Spanish: albino
      • → English: albino
  • ⇒ Neo-Latin: albana
    • → French: albane
      • → English: alban
• Borrowings:
  • → Catalan: alb
  • → Italian: albo
  • → Old English: albe
    • English: alb
  • → Old Spanish: albo
    • Spanish: albo

See also

Colors in Latin · colōrēs (layout · text)

albus, candidus, niveus, cēreus, marmoreus, eburneus, cānus, blancus (ML.)	rāvus, pullus, cinereus, cinerāceus, plumbeus, grīseus (ML. or NL.)	niger, āter, piceus, furvus
ruber, rūfus, russus, rubrīcus, pūniceus, murrinus, mulleus; cocceus, coccīnus, badius	rutilus, armeniacus, aurantius, aurantiacus; fuscus, colōrius, cervīnus, spādīx, castaneus, aquilus, fulvus, brunneus (ML.)	flāvus, fulvus, lūteus, gilvus, helvus, croceus, pallidus, blondinus (ML.)
galbus, galbinus, lūridus	viridis	prasinus
cȳaneus	caeruleus, azurīnus (ML.), 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^[1], 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^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016