albus

See also: Albus and albuș

Latin

From Proto-Italic *alβos, from Proto-Indo-European *albʰós. 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”).

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

white (properly without luster), dull white
- 8 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 […] "
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.
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.
(figuratively) favorable, fortunate, auspicious, propitious

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.

	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
	singular			plural
nominative	albus	alba	album	albī	albae	alba
genitive	albī	albae	albī	albōrum	albārum	albōrum
dative	albō	albae	albō	albīs
accusative	album	albam	album	albōs	albās	alba
ablative	albō	albā	albō	albīs
vocative	albe	alba	album	albī	albae	alba

Balkano-Romance:
- Aromanian: albu, alb
- Istro-Romanian: åb
- Megleno-Romanian: alb, albu
- Romanian: alb
Italo-Dalmatian:
- Dalmatian: jualb, juolb
- Italian: albo
Rhaeto-Romance:
- Romansch: alv, alb
Ibero-Romance:
- Asturian: albu (used to form some words)
- 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
    - → French: albinos
- ⇒ Neo-Latin: albana
  - → French: albane
    - → English: alban
Borrowings:
- → Catalan: alb
- → French: albe
- → Italian: albo
- → Old English: albe
  - English: alb
- → Old Spanish: albo
  - Spanish: albo

“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 (16 July 2016 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

albus, candidus, cānus, marmoreus (poetic), eburneus (poetic), niveus (poetic), argenteus (poetic)	rāvus, mūrīnus (of livestock)	niger, āter, furvus, pullus, fuscus ("dark"), piceus (poetic)
ruber, russus, rūbidus (dark), flammeus (poetic); rutilus, pūniceus, spādīx (poetic), sanguineus (poetic)	rūfus, rutilus, rōbus (of oxen), croceus (poetic), aureus (poetic); fulvus (poetic), niger (of eyes), badius (of horses)	lūteus, flāvus ("blond"), lūridus, gilvus (of horses), helvus (of cattle), cēreus (poetic)
viridis, flāvus (poetic)	viridis, herbeus (of eyes), fulvus (poetic)	viridis, glaucus (poetic), caeruleus (poetic, only dark)
	glaucus (poetic), caeruleus, caesius (of eyes)	caeruleus, līvidus, ferrūgineus (poetic), glaucus (poetic)
violāceus	purpureus (underlying shade)	roseus