alba meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

alba

noun

UK /ˈæl.bə/

Etymology First attested in 1821; borrowed from Occitan alba, ultimately from Latin albus (“white”); compare Spanish alba (“dawn”).

Communications, Journalism, Literature, Media, Poetry, Publishing, Writing A type of lyrical poetry, traditionally Provençal, about lovers who must part at dawn.

Related terms: aubade, Tagelied

alba

noun

Etymology First attested in 1848; borrowed from Latin alba (the feminine form of albus (“white”)) in the now-disused species name of binomial nomenclature Rosa alba (it is now considered a hybrid and is accordingly called Rosa × alba).

A white-flowered shrub rose of the hybrid Rosa × alba.

A flower of the hybrid Rosa × alba.

Derived terms: aquila alba, linea alba, magnesia alba, phlegmasia alba dolens, terra alba

alba

noun

Etymology Borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin alba (“alb”), from Latin alba (as in tunica alba (“white tunic”), vestis alba (“white garment”)), feminine of albus (“white”). Doublet of alb.

Synonym of alb.

On a little plot of grass near the kitchen the family were spreading out a large supply of priestly vestments—albas, casullas, capas pluviales, ornamentos, parmentos, cíngulas, estolas, frontales, etc., etc., etc.1857, Isaac F[arwell] Holton, “Montserrate and the Boqueron”, in New Granada: Twenty Months in the Andes, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, page 217:
Christ, whom they meet, must wear an alba and an amictus, be barefooted, and carry a cross on the left shoulder.1932, Theodore Komisarjevsky, The Costume of the Theatre, page 56:

2 more examples

Traditional styles such as cassocks and cottas, or contemporary trends in robes and collars, choir albas, skirts, caps and acolyte vestments.1979, Yearbook, Board of Publication of the Lutheran Church in America, page 494:
Another canon with a biretta in his hand, wearing an alba and an upper fur mucia, is kneeling to the left of the Crucifix;2000, Ivo Hlobil, Ladislav Daniel, editors, The Last Flowers of the Middle Ages: From the Gothic to the Renaissance in Moravia and Silesia, →ISBN, page 304:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.