alba

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ălʹbə, IPA^(key): /ˈæl.bə/

• Audio (US):

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

alba (plural albas)

1. (poetry) A type of lyrical poetry, traditionally Provençal, about lovers who must part at dawn.

• Alba (poetry) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

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).

alba (plural albas)

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

• List of Rosa species on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

First attested in 1859; borrowed from Latin alba, the nominative plural form of album (“blank tablet”), whence the English album.

alba pl

1. (rare) plural of album
   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:alba.

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.

alba (plural albas)

2. Synonym of alb.
   • 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:

     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.

   • 1932, Theodore Komisarjevsky, The Costume of the Theatre, page 56:

     Christ, whom they meet, must wear an alba and an amictus, be barefooted, and carry a cross on the left shoulder.

   • 1979, Yearbook, Board of Publication of the Lutheran Church in America, page 494:

     Traditional styles such as cassocks and cottas, or contemporary trends in robes and collars, choir albas, skirts, caps and acolyte vestments.

   • 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:

     Another canon with a biretta in his hand, wearing an alba and an upper fur mucia, is kneeling to the left of the Crucifix;

• AABL, Ba'al, Baal, Bala, Baʿal, LABA, baal, blaa, laab

From Vulgar Latin *alba, from Latin albus (“white”).

alba f (plural albes)

1. dawn

• amanecer

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈal.βə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈal.bə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈal.ba]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *alba, from Latin albus (“white”).

alba f (plural albes)

1. dawn
2. (Catholicism, liturgy) the white tunic worn by priests

• auba

alba f (plural albes)

1. alternative form of àlber (“white poplar”)

• “alba” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “alba”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “alba” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• IPA^(key): /alˈba/

alba (alienable)

1. a weed
2. an uncultivated plant

• IPA^(key): [ˈalba]
• Rhymes: -alba

alba

1. inflection of album:
   1. genitive singular
   2. nominative/accusative/vocative plural

From Latin alba.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑlbɑ/, [ˈɑ̝lbɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -ɑlbɑ
• Syllabification^(key): al‧ba
• Hyphenation^(key): al‧ba

alba

1. An alb; a long white gown worn in various Christian ceremonies by the priest or the parishioners, especially in a confirmation by the people who are being confirmed

• “alba”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

• alva (reintegrationist)

From Old Galician-Portuguese alva (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Vulgar Latin *alba, the feminine of albus (“white”). Cognate with Portuguese alva.

• IPA^(key): [ˈalβɐ]

alba f (plural albas)

1. dawn

   Synonyms: alborada, abrente

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “alva”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “alba”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “alba”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /ˈalpa/
• Homophone: Alba

alba f (genitive singular ölbu, nominative plural ölbur)

1. alb (priestly robe)

Learned borrowing from Latin alba (as in tunica alba (“white tunic”), vestis alba (“white garment”)), feminine of albus (“white”).

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈalba/ [ˈal.ba]
• Rhymes: -alba
• Syllabification: al‧ba

alba (plural alba-alba)

1. (Catholicism) alb: a long, white robe worn by priests and other ministers, underneath most of the other vestments.

• “alba”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

From Vulgar Latin *alba, from Latin albus (“white”).

alba f

1. dawn

From Vulgar Latin *alba, from Latin albus (“white”). Compare French aube.

• IPA^(key): /ˈal.ba/
• Rhymes: -alba
• Hyphenation: àl‧ba

• Audio:

  (file)

alba f (plural albe)

1. dawn, daybreak, break of day

   Synonym: aurora

   • 1926, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Adami, Renato Simoni, “Nessun dorma”, in Turandot:

     Dilegua, o notte! Tramontate, stelle! Tramontate, stelle! All'alba, vincerò! Vincerò! Vincerò!

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. sunrise

   Synonyms: aurora, levar del sole

   • 2017, Baby K, “Voglio ballare con te”, performed by Andrés Ceballos:

     Voglio vedere le luci dell’alba cambiare colore

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• albeggiare
• albino

• Baal

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈaɫ.ba]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈal.ba]

alba

1. inflection of albus:
   1. nominative/vocative feminine singular
   2. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter plural

alba f (genitive albae); first declension

1. a white precious stone, the pearl
2. (Medieval Latin) dawn

First-declension noun.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈaɫ.baː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈal.ba]

albā

1. ablative feminine singular of albus

• “alba”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "alba", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “alba”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “alba”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers

From Latin alba (“white”).

alba m (definite singular albaen, indefinite plural albaer, definite plural albaene)

1. (Christianity) alb

• “alba” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “alba” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

From Latin alba (“white”).

alba m (definite singular albaen, indefinite plural albaar or albaer, definite plural albaane or albaene)

1. (Christianity) alb

• “alba” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Proto-West Germanic *albijā, from Proto-Celtic *albiyū (“(upper) world; high mountain; alpine pasture”), from Proto-Indo-European *albʰós (“white”).

alba f

1. alpine pasture
2. alp

• IPA^(key): /ˈal.ba/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -alba
• Syllabification: al‧ba
• Homophone: Alba

Learned borrowing from Latin alba.^[1] First attested in 1528.^[2]

alba f

1. (Anglicanism, Lutheranism, Roman Catholicism) alb (long white robe worn by ministers at religious ceremonies)

   Coordinate term: komża

   białe alby ― white albs

Borrowed from Occitan alba.^[1] First attested in the 20th century.^[3]

alba f

1. (historical, poetry) alba (genre of Old Occitan lyric poetry)

Borrowed from German Halbe. First attested in the 17th century.^[4]

alba f

1. Middle Polish form of halba

• alba in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• alba in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814), “alba”, in Słownik języka polskiego
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861), “alba”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “alba”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 22

Borrowed from Latin alba (“white”). Doublet of alva. Compare French aube (“dawn”).

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -albɐ, (Brazil) -awbɐ
• Hyphenation: al‧ba

alba f (plural albas)

1. dawn, daybreak

   Synonyms: alva, aurora, alvorada, crepúsculo

• “alba”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “alba”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Definite form of albă, from Latin alba, feminine of albus. For the sense of "dawn" or "sunrise", see Vulgar Latin *alba, whence also Spanish and Italian alba, French aube, Portuguese alva.

• IPA^(key): /ˈal.ba/

alba

1. definite feminine singular nominative/accusative of alb

alba f (plural albe)

1. (popular) dawn, daybreak, sunrise

   Synonyms: zori, auroră, răsărit

From Vulgar Latin *alba, from Latin albus (“white”).

alba f

1. dawn

From Proto-Cushitic. Cognates include Gedeo አልበ (alba).

• IPA^(key): /ˈalba/
• Hyphenation: al‧ba

alba m 

1. face
2. front
3. living room

• A traditional Sidamo house may combine the alba with a kitchen. The other room is called the holge.

• Kazuhiro Kawachi (2007), A grammar of Sidaama (Sidamo), a Cushitic language of Ethiopia, page 33
• Gizaw Shimelis, editor (2007), “alba”, in Sidaama-Amharic-English dictionary, Addis Ababa: Sidama Information and Culture department

From Vulgar Latin *alba, from Latin albus.

• IPA^(key): /ˈalba/ [ˈal.β̞a]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -alba
• Syllabification: al‧ba

alba f (plural albas)

1. dawn

   Synonym: amanecer

   • 1915, Julio Vicuña Cifuentes, Mitos y Supersticiones Recogidos de la Tradición Oral Chilena, page 8:

     La orgía se prolongó hasta el alba.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (Christianity, chiefly Anglicanism, Roman Catholicism) alb

• Before feminine nouns beginning with stressed /ˈa/ like alba, the singular definite article takes the form of el (otherwise reserved for masculine nouns) instead of the usual la: el alba. This includes the contracted forms al and del (instead of a la and de la, respectively): al alba, del alba.

This also applies to the indefinite article, which takes the form of un, which is otherwise used with masculine nouns (although the standard feminine form una also occurs): un alba or una alba. The same is true with determiners algún/alguna and ningún/ninguna, as well as for numerals ending with 1 (e.g., veintiún/veintiuna).

However, if another word intervenes between the article and the noun, the usual feminine singular articles and determiners (la, una etc.) are used: la mejor alba, una buena alba.

• In these cases, el and un are not masculine but feminine, deriving from Latin illa and una, respectively, even though they are identical in form to the corresponding masculine singular articles. Thus, they are allomorphs of the feminine singular articles la and una.
• The use of these allomorphs does not change the gender agreement of the adjectives modifying the feminine noun: el alba única, un(a) alba buena.
• In the plural, the usual feminine plural articles and determiners (las, unas, etc.) are always used.

alba

1. feminine singular of albo

• “albo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Borrowed from Spanish alba, from Vulgar Latin *alba, from Latin albus. Doublet of album.

• (Standard Tagalog)
  • IPA^(key): /ˈʔalba/ [ˈʔal.bɐ]
    • Rhymes: -alba
    • Homophone: Alba
  • IPA^(key): /ʔalˈba/ [ʔɐlˈba] (obsolete)
• Syllabification: al‧ba

alba (Baybayin spelling ᜀᜎ᜔ᜊ)

1. daybreak; dawn

   Synonyms: liwayway, bukang-liwayway, aliwayway

2. (Christianity) alb

• “alba”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018
• San Buena Ventura, Fr. Pedro de (1613), Vocabulario de lengua tagala. El romance castellano puesto primero. Primera, y segunda parte.‎^[2] (overall work in Early Modern Spanish and Classical Tagalog), as directed by Gov. Gen. Juan de Silva, Pila, Laguna: La noble Villa de Pila, por Tomás Pinpin y Domingo Loag., page Alba) Alba [(pc)] C. con que ſe celebra la miſſa
• Cuadrado Muñiz, Adolfo (1972), Hispanismos en el tagalo: diccionario de vocablos de origen español vigentes en esta lengua filipina, Madrid: Oficina de Educación Iberoamericana, page 21

• laab, bala, abla, alab, laba