5 ms·

"Album" meaning "blank tablet" in Latin is interesting because it seems to have the word "white" in it, same as in albumen (egg whites) and Albion (home of the

"Album" meaning "blank tablet" in Latin is interesting because it seems to have the word "white" in it, same as in albumen (egg whites) and Albion (home of the White Cliffs).

XaspR8d 7y ago
Yeah, a classic word formation pattern of using only a (visual) feature of an object to name and distinguish it. EtymOnline's explanation makes the connection even more direct: > from Latin album, which in classical times was a board chalked or painted white, upon which public notices (the Annales Maximi, edicts of the praetor, lists of senators, etc.) were inscribed in black, hence "a list of names." This Latin word was revived 16c. by German scholars, whose custom was to keep an album amicorum of colleagues' signatures; its meaning then expanded to "book with blank leaves meant to collect signatures and other souvenirs." > Latin album is literally "white color, whiteness;" it is a noun use of the neuter of the adjective albus "white" https://www.etymonline.com/word/album https://www.etymonline.com/word/album
- ljm 7y ago
  So I suppose this would make one of The Beatles' seminal hits roughly translate to The Album Album?
NeedMoreTea 7y ago
Albion comes from early Celtic rather than Latin. Originally naming all of Britain it changed at some point to refer to just Scotland, and gave the modern Scots Gaelic of Alba for Scotland.
- seszett 7y ago
  Does Albion really mean Scotland in English? It means England in French.
  - smcl 7y ago
    There's no real common modern usage of "Albion" except in the name of football teams (West Bromwich Albion, Albion Rovers, Stirling Albion) - so it doesn't really mean one more than the other in English. Some people might say it comes from an old celtic word and therefore refers to Scotland, others might say it's from Latin and refers to England or the whole island of Britain. I've no idea which is "right" but the word just doesn't come up in everyday English.
  - NeedMoreTea 7y ago
    Aside from the football teams mentioned, just about the only context you may hear Albion is occasionally old poetry and literature, or the famous 18th or 19th century French use of "Perfidious Albion". It morphed into the modern Alba for Scotland, stemming from the same source, but I'm not sure quite of the overlap from Albion to Alba.
- alberto_ol 7y ago
  According to this source it comes likely from latin https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=Albion+ https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=Albion+
  - NeedMoreTea 7y ago
    Interesting, I stand corrected. OED says it comes from Old English, from Latin, probably of Celtic origin, and also make mention of albus... That may be their bets being hedged. :)

"Album" meaning "blank tablet" in Latin is interesting because it seems to have the word "white" in it, same as in albumen (egg whites) and Albion (home of the White Cliffs).

XaspR8d 7y ago

Yeah, a classic word formation pattern of using only a (visual) feature of an object to name and distinguish it. EtymOnline's explanation makes the connection even more direct: > from Latin album, which in classical times was a board chalked or painted white, upon which public notices (the Annales Maximi, edicts of the praetor, lists of senators, etc.) were inscribed in black, hence "a list of names." This Latin word was revived 16c. by German scholars, whose custom was to keep an album amicorum of colleagues' signatures; its meaning then expanded to "book with blank leaves meant to collect signatures and other souvenirs." > Latin album is literally "white color, whiteness;" it is a noun use of the neuter of the adjective albus "white" https://www.etymonline.com/word/album https://www.etymonline.com/word/album

ljm 7y ago
So I suppose this would make one of The Beatles' seminal hits roughly translate to The Album Album?

NeedMoreTea 7y ago

Albion comes from early Celtic rather than Latin. Originally naming all of Britain it changed at some point to refer to just Scotland, and gave the modern Scots Gaelic of Alba for Scotland.

seszett 7y ago
Does Albion really mean Scotland in English? It means England in French.
- smcl 7y ago
  There's no real common modern usage of "Albion" except in the name of football teams (West Bromwich Albion, Albion Rovers, Stirling Albion) - so it doesn't really mean one more than the other in English. Some people might say it comes from an old celtic word and therefore refers to Scotland, others might say it's from Latin and refers to England or the whole island of Britain. I've no idea which is "right" but the word just doesn't come up in everyday English.
- NeedMoreTea 7y ago
  Aside from the football teams mentioned, just about the only context you may hear Albion is occasionally old poetry and literature, or the famous 18th or 19th century French use of "Perfidious Albion". It morphed into the modern Alba for Scotland, stemming from the same source, but I'm not sure quite of the overlap from Albion to Alba.
alberto_ol 7y ago
According to this source it comes likely from latin https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=Albion+ https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=Albion+
- NeedMoreTea 7y ago
  Interesting, I stand corrected. OED says it comes from Old English, from Latin, probably of Celtic origin, and also make mention of albus... That may be their bets being hedged. :)