alba

Forms

alba f (plural albe)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin alba, the feminine of albus (“white”) used as a noun, with lūx (“light”) understood: “the white light”.^[2][3][4][1] Since the noun is found in every Romance language except Romanian, the LEI takes it for a formation of common Romance: Old French albe, French aube, Old Occitan alba, Catalan alba, Spanish alba, Portuguese alva and Romansh alva.^[5][3][6]

As an adjective of colour the Latin word lost out early to a Germanic adjective, the source of bianco, and survives only in conservative areas, as in Romanian alb and Portuguese alvo, and in place names.^[5]

The Latin adjective goes back to Proto-Italic *alfo- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂elbʰ-o- (“white”), with cognates in Ancient Greek ἀλφός (alphós, “dull-white leprosy”) and perhaps Hittite alpa- (“cloud”).^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Lombard poet Pietro da Bescapè in 1274, for the beginning of the day, the first light of morning.^[8][9] DELI's first date is Dante, before 1321: L'alba vinceva l'ora mattutina, “dawn was overcoming the morning hour”.^[2][10]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian had many phrases with the word: all'alba, in sul far dell'alba “at daybreak”, and farsi l'alba “to grow light”; legal texts used alba del dì for the exact moment a new day begins.^[8] The figurative sense “beginning” is recorded before 1698 in Redi.^[2] The verb albeggiare “to dawn” is first recorded in Bandello in 1554; an earlier example quoted in the dictionaries is a forgery.^[2]

From the Occitan troubadours the word also names a poem on the parting of lovers at daybreak.^[4][11] In military slang alba is the day of discharge, and in prison the day of release.^[4][9]

Timeline

• 1274 – Pietro da Bescapè uses alba.^[8]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses the word for dawn.^[2]
• 1554 – Bandello uses albeggiare.^[2]
• Before 1698 – Redi uses alba for a beginning.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. dawn: the first light of morning before sunrise; the passage from night to day: Partimmo all'alba per evitare il traffico.^{[4][9][12][1]}
2. By extension, a day.^[4]
3. (figurative) A beginning, the first sign of something, as in l'alba di una nuova epoca.^[4][9][13]
4. (literature, music) An alba: a medieval song on the parting of lovers at dawn.^[4][9][14]
5. (slang) Among soldiers, the day of discharge; among prisoners, the day of release.^[4][9]

Word family

• albeggiare
• albagia
• prealba

Related words

• albino
• albo
• albore
• Latin albus
• French aube

Usage notes

A separate alba, the white vestment of the priest now called camice, is a learned word from Latin alba “white” with vestis “garment” understood; it is recorded in Italian from the first half of the 14th century, and the TLIO has it in a Florentine document of 1287.^{[4][13][11][8]} DEI also lists alba, a silver coin of 13th-century Venice, and in Calabria alba is the second moult of the silkworm.^[15][16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 2, 1
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
9. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 106
16. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Marcato, Carla (1998), I dialetti italiani: dizionario etimologico, Torino: UTET