User Contributed Dictionary
see Alba
Etymology
from albus.Noun
alba- a weed
- an uncultivated plant
Finnish
Noun
- An alb; a long white gown worn in various Christian ceremonies by the priest or the parishioners, esp. in a confirmation by the people who are being confirmed.
Italian
Etymology
From albus.Noun
Derived terms
See also
Latin
Adjective
la-adj-form albaOld High German
Etymology
From a Pre-Indo-European *alb-, ‘mountain’Noun
albaPortuguese
Etymology
From albus.Adjective
alba (plural albas)Derived terms
Romanian
Adjective
albaSpanish
Adjective
alba (plural albas)Extensive Definition
Alba is the Scottish
Gaelic name () for Scotland. It is
cognate to Albain in Irish Gaelic
and Albey in Manx, the other
Goidelic
Insular
Celtic language, as well as similar words in the Brythonic
Insular Celtic languages of Cornish
(Alban) and Welsh (Yr
Alban) also meaning Scotland.
Hence also the early classical name Albion. It was used
by the Gaels
to refer to the island as a whole until roughly the ninth or
tenth
centuries, when it came to be the name given to the kingdoms of the
Picts and the
Scots
(Pictavia
and Dál
Riata), north of the River Forth and the
Clyde
estuary, traditionally
considered to have been unified by Kenneth
Mac Alpin.
As time passed that kingdom incorporated others
to the southern territories. It became Latinized in the High
Medieval period as "Albania" (it is unclear whether it may
ultimately share the same etymon as the
modern Albania). This
latter word was employed mainly by Celto-Latin writers, and most
famously by Geoffrey
of Monmouth. It was this word which passed into Middle English
as Albany,
although very rarely was this used for the Kingdom
of Scotland, but rather for the notional Duchy of
Albany. From the latter the capital of the U.S. state
of New
York, Albany,
takes its name.
See also
alba in French: Alba (royaume)
alba in Italian: Alba (Scozia)
alba in Dutch: Alba (koninkrijk)
alba in Japanese: アルバ王国
alba in Norwegian: Alba
alba in Swedish: Alba
(förnamn)