albus Latin · revision 2728

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *h₂elbʰ-o-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈaɫ.bʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈal.bus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

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

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*alfo-|t=white]], [[inh|ine-pro|*h₂elbʰ-o-|t=white]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)^(Pokorny 1959) Cognate with [[xum|alfu]] “white” and, according to Festus, [[sbv|alpus]], and further with [[grc|ἀλφός|tr=alphós|t=dull-white leprosy]], [[grc|ἄλφι|tr=álphi|t=barley groats]] and perhaps [[sq|elb|t=barley]], unless that is a Greek loan.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) Wiktionary and Etymonline add [[hit|alpa-|t=cloud]] and the Germanic and Slavic words for “swan”, such as [[goh|albiz]] and [[cu|лебедь|tr=lebedĭ]], as well as [[en|elf]];^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) de Vaan holds that the swan words, with their suffix *-d-, probably do not belong here, and that Hittite ''alpa-'' could only continue a noun *h₂olbʰo- with different ablaut.^(de Vaan 2008) Many place names have been connected with the word, among them Alba, Albula, the old name of the Tiber, and the Alps, but de Vaan calls these uncertain.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is found from Plautus onwards,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who describes a man as [[m|en|fair]]-skinned with dark eyes, and another with white head and white beard.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a dull or matt [[m|en|white]], as against [[candidus]], a shining white, and was opposed to [[ater]], dull black; so ''alba et atra discernere'' was to tell white from black, and ''albus an ater sit'' “whether he is white or black” was said of someone one does not know at all.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) Albus and ater stood figuratively for good and bad fortune, and so ''albus'' alone meant favourable or auspicious in Horace and Persius.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ It described white-haired age, the pallor of fear or illness, white wine, unripe olives, white varieties of plants (''populus alba'', ''spina alba''), tin (''plumbum album''), stucco (''album opus'') and unemblazoned shields.^(OLD 2012) ''Avis alba'', a white bird, was a rarity, and ''albis dentibus deridere'' was to laugh openly.^(OLD 2012) The neuter [[album]] became a whitened board for notices and then a list.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Medieval writers used ''monachus albus'' for an Austin canon or a Cistercian and the noun for a small silver coin and for white bread, and Köbler records medieval senses “famous, gracious”.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Köbler 2010)^(DMLBS) It survives in Romanian ''alb'', Italian ''albo'', Spanish ''albo'' and Portuguese ''alvo''.^(Wiktionary) English [[m|en|alb]], the priest's white robe, comes from Late Latin ''tunica alba'', and [[m|en|albino]] (1777) through Spanish or Portuguese.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of fair skin, white hair and white wine.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato speaks of white milk and white olives.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius has ''sol albus'', the bright sun.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero calls a right-thinking citizen as rare as a white bird.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of a favourable turn of fortune.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * late Old English period – [[en|alb|alt=Alb]] is borrowed into English from ''tunica alba''.^(Etymonline)

+ * second half of the 10th century – A life of Saint Paulinus of Trier has the medieval sense “famous”.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1777 – [[en|albino|alt=Albino]] is borrowed into English from Spanish or Portuguese.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Dull [[m|en|white]], light-coloured; uncoloured, plain.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Whitened; clad in white.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Clear, colourless, and of light or the sky bright.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Fair-skinned, and of plants, wine and olives of the white or light variety.^(OLD 2012)

+ # White with age, grey; pale with fear or illness.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Favourable, [[m|en|auspicious]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Famous; gracious.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A small silver coin; white bread.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[alba]]

+ * [[albaris]]

+ * [[albātus]]

+ * [[albēdō]]

+ * [[albeō]]

+ * [[albicapillus]]

+ * [[albiceratus]]

+ * [[albiceris]]

+ * [[albicerus]]

+ * [[albicolor]]

+ * [[albicomus]]

+ * [[albinus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[candidus]]

+ * [[en|alb]]

+ * [[en|albino]]

+ * [[en|album]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein explains ''albus'' as white in the sense of absence of colour, and ''candidus'' as a positive, brilliant white, and ''albus'' is opposed to ''ater'', ''candidus'' to [[niger]].^(Döderlein 1874)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}