Alb

//ælb// name, noun

name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A long, white robe worn by priests and other ministers, underneath most of the other vestments.

    "‘The confidence of the very rich,’ thought Father Carter watching Binkie shaking out albs and cottas and calling rather loudly to the organist."

  2. 2
    a white linen liturgical vestment with sleeves; worn by priests wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A river in Germany; a tributary of the Rhine.

Example

More examples

"‘The confidence of the very rich,’ thought Father Carter watching Binkie shaking out albs and cottas and calling rather loudly to the organist."

Etymology

From Middle English aube, awbe, albe, abbe, from Late Old English albe (but later reinforced by Old French aube, Medieval Latin alba), borrowed from Latin alba (as in tunica alba (“white tunic”), vestis alba (“white garment”)), feminine of albus (“white”). Doublet of alba.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.