alb

Forms

alb m or n (feminine singular albă, masculine plural albi, feminine/neuter plural albe)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin albus (“white”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} It survives in all four branches: Aromanian albu, Megleno-Romanian alb and Istro-Romanian åb.^[2][3][6][7] DELR calls it pan-Romance;^[3] its cognates include Dalmatian jualb, Spanish albo and Portuguese alvo, while the feminine gave the words for “dawn”, Italian alba, French aube and Spanish alba.^[2][8] The Latin adjective goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂elbʰós (“white”).^[9][1]

The sense “conservative” and the newer phrases for “cold steel”, “white meat” and “sleepless night” follow French blanc.^[3] The sense “happy” is Romanian's own: Ciorănescu explains it from the contrast of black and white.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded first in names: Tiktin cites a Transylvanian place name of 1214,^[10] and DELR the personal name Albul in 1389.^[3] A Banat place name is recorded in 1470.^[11] As a common word it appears in the Palia of 1582.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The core sense, “of the colour of snow or milk”, gave “clean” (of linen), “pale”, “grey-haired” and, figuratively, “pure, innocent”.^[12][13][10] The sense “happy, fortunate” (zile albe) is also Aromanian, where Pascu compares the Latin dies alba.^[2][14] DELR takes the newer phrases armă albă “cold steel”, carne albă “white meat” and noapte albă “sleepless night” from French.^[3] In folk tales lumea albă is the world of the living,^[12] and alba “the white one” is the dawn, recorded from 1882.^[3]

As a noun the word names the colour, a white person and, in 19th-century politics, a conservative, after French usage.^[12][3][2] Scriban explains the political sense from the white lily of the Bourbons.^[13] The large family includes the verb albi (c. 1650), which may continue a Latin *albīre or be formed on alb,^[3][2] albeață “whiteness; cataract” (17th century) and albicios “whitish” (1705).^[3]

Timeline

• 1214 – a Transylvanian place name, the first record.^[10]
• 1389 – the personal name Albul.^[3]
• 1470 – a place name in the Sebeș district of the Banat.^[11]
• 1582 – alb as a common word in the Palia.^[4]
• 1607 – the personal name Albeaiu, the first record of albei.^[3]
• 17th century – albeață.^[3]
• c. 1650 – the verb albi.^[3]
• 1665–1685 – albiciune in Milescu's Septuagint.^[3]
• 1682 – albineț “pale” in Dosoftei.^[3]
• 1705 – albicios “whitish” in Cantemir.^[3]
• 1882 – alba “the dawn” in Ispirescu.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. white: of the colour of snow or milk: carne albă “white meat”, hârtie albă “blank paper”, armă albă “cold steel”.^[12]
2. Of people: belonging to the white race; also grey-haired, cărunt.^[12]
3. colourless, transparent.^[12]
4. (figurative) Clear, bright: noapte albă “a sleepless night”;^[12][2] (rare) zile albe “happy days”.^[12][2]
5. (figurative) innocent, pure.^[12][10]
6. Of verse: without rhyme, blank.^[12]

Noun

1. The colour white; something white: albul ochiului “the white of the eye”, alb de zinc “zinc white”.^[12]
2. A white person;^[12][3] (historical) a counter-revolutionary or conservative.^[12][3]
3. A breed of white pigs.^[12]

Word family

• albi
• albeață
• albeală
• albei
• albicios
• albiciune
• albime
• albineț
• albișor
• albitură
• albiță
• albui
• albuș
• dalb
• înălbi

Related words

• albastru
• Latin albus

Usage notes

Common phrases: negru pe alb “in black and white, in writing”, a semna în alb “to sign a blank document; to trust someone fully” and a scoate cuiva peri albi “to drive someone to distraction”.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. alb
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. alb
4. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 34
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 331
6. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 81
7. ^ Kovačec, August (1998), Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima), Pula
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. alb
11. ^ a b Hațegan, Ioan (2013), Dicționar istoric al așezărilor din Banat, sec. XI–XX. Atestări documentare și cartografice, Timișoara
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 24
13. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 83
14. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 31