alabaster
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also Alabaster
Contents |
English [edit]
Alternative forms [edit]
- alabastre (obsolete)
- alablaster (obsolete)
Etymology [edit]
From Old French alabastre, from Latin alabaster (“box for perfume made of alabaster”), from Ancient Greek ἀλάβαστρος (alabastros), from earlier ἀλάβαστος (alabastos, “vase made of alabaster”). This may further derive from the ancient Egyptian word a-labaste (vessel of the Egyptian goddess Bast).
Pronunciation [edit]
Noun [edit]
alabaster (usually uncountable; plural alabasters)
- A fine-grained white or lightly-tinted variety of gypsum, used ornamentally.
- c. 1596, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act I, Scene I, lines 89-90
- Why should a man, whose blood is warm within,
- Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster?
- 1867 Dante Alghieri, The Divine Comedy, Paradiso, Canto XV, lines 22-23 (translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
- Nor was the flame dissevered from its ribbon
- But like a radiant fillet ran along
- So that fire seemed it behind alabaster.
- Nor was the flame dissevered from its ribbon
- 1915, The New York Times, "Egyptian Antiquities for Metropolitan" (pdf), 15 May
- One of the striking relics found at the tomb, was a Canopic portrait head of Queen Tii, made entirely of alabaster except the eyes and eyebrows, which were inlaid lapis lazuli and osidian.
- c. 1596, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act I, Scene I, lines 89-90
- (historical) A variety of calcite, translucent and sometimes banded.
Translations [edit]
variety of gypsum
Adjective [edit]
alabaster (not comparable)
- Made of alabaster
- The crown is stored in an alabaster box with an onyx handle and a gold lock.
- Resembling alabaster: white, pale, translucent.
- An ominous alabaster fog settled in the valley.
Quotations [edit]
- 1594, William Shakespeare, "The Rape of Lucrece", lines 418-420
- With more than admiration he admir’d
- Her azure veins, her alabaster skin,
- Her coral lips, her snow-white dimpled chin.
- With more than admiration he admir’d
- 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Mark 14:3
- And being in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.
- before 1887, Emily Dickinson, "Safe in Their Alabaster Chambers"
- Safe in their alabaster chambers
- Untouched by morning, untouched by noon
- Sleep the meek members of the resurrection,
- Rafters of satin, and roof of stone.
- 1895, Katherine Lee Bates, "America the Beautiful"
- Thy alabaster cities gleam
- Undimmed by human tears!
Translations [edit]
made of alabaster
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Latin [edit]
Alternative forms [edit]
Noun [edit]
alabaster (genitive alabastrī); m, second declension
Inflection [edit]
| Number | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | alabaster | alabastrī |
| genitive | alabastrī | alabastrōrum |
| dative | alabastrō | alabastrīs |
| accusative | alabastrum | alabastrōs |
| ablative | alabastrō | alabastrīs |
| vocative | alabaster 1 | alabastrī |
1 May also be alabastre.
Descendants [edit]
Polish [edit]
Noun [edit]
alabaster m
Declension [edit]
declension of alabaster
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | alabaster | alabastry |
| genitive | alabastru | alabastrów |
| dative | alabastrowi | alabastrom |
| accusative | alabaster | alabastry |
| instrumental | alabastrem | alabastrami |
| locative | alabastrze | alabastrach |
| vocative | alabastrze | alabastry |
Derived terms [edit]
Serbo-Croatian [edit]
Noun [edit]
alabaster m (Cyrillic spelling алабастер)
Synonyms [edit]
Categories:
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English terms derived from Egyptian
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English historical terms
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- en:Minerals
- Latin nouns
- Polish nouns
- Polish masculine nouns
- pl:Minerals
- Serbo-Croatian nouns
- Serbo-Croatian masculine nouns
