alabaster

alabaster
\ \ [14] Chaucer was the first English author to use the word alabaster: in the Knight’s Tale (1386) he writes of ‘alabaster white and red coral’. It comes, via Old French and Latin, from Greek alábast(r)os, which may be of Egyptian origin. Scottish English used the variant from alabast until the 16th century (indeed, this may predate alabaster by a few years); and from the 16th to the 17th century the word was usually spelled alablaster, apparently owing to confusion with arblaster ‘crossbowman’.
\ \ The use of alabaster for making marbles (of the sort used in children’s games) gave rise to the abbreviation alley, ally ‘marble’ in the early 18th century.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Alabaster — is a name applied to varieties of two distinct minerals: gypsum (a hydrous sulfate of calcium) and calcite (a carbonate of calcium). The former is the alabaster of the present day; the latter is generally the alabaster of the ancients. The two… …   Wikipedia

  • Alabaster — massiges Aggregat Chemische Formel CaSO4 · 2 H2O Mineralklasse Wasserhaltige Sulfate ohne fremde Anionen siehe Gips (nach Strunz) siehe Gips …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Alabaster — • The substance commonly known as alabaster is a fine grained variety of gypsum. Oriental alabaster, the alabastrites of the classical writers, is a translucent marble obtained from stalagmitic deposits Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006.… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Alabaster — Sm Edelgips erw. fach. (12. Jh.) Entlehnung. Entlehnt aus l. alabaster m., alabastrum n., dieses aus gr. alábastros m. und on n. (älter gr. alábastos) Alabaster (als Mineral), aus Alabaster gefertigtes Salbengefäß . Wohl zu einem ägyptischen Wort …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • alabaster — [al′ə bas΄tər] n. [ME < OFr alabastre < L alabaster < Gr alabastros, earlier alabastos, vase for perfumes (often made of alabaster), prob. < Egypt *ʼ a labaste, vessel of (the goddess) Bast] 1. a translucent, whitish, fine grained… …   English World dictionary

  • Alabaster — Al a*bas ter, n. [L. alabaster, Gr. ala bastros, said to be derived fr. Alabastron, the name of a town in Egypt, near which it was common: cf. OF. alabastre, F. alb[^a]tre.] 1. (Min.) (a) A compact variety or sulphate of lime, or gypsum, of fine… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Alabaster — Alabaster, AL U.S. city in Alabama Population (2000): 22619 Housing Units (2000): 8594 Land area (2000): 20.472605 sq. miles (53.023800 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.054715 sq. miles (0.141711 sq. km) Total area (2000): 20.527320 sq. miles… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Alabaster, AL — U.S. city in Alabama Population (2000): 22619 Housing Units (2000): 8594 Land area (2000): 20.472605 sq. miles (53.023800 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.054715 sq. miles (0.141711 sq. km) Total area (2000): 20.527320 sq. miles (53.165511 sq. km)… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Alabaster — Alabaster: Der Name der feinkörnigen weißlichen Gipsart, mhd. alabaster, führt über entsprechend lat. alabaster auf griech. alábast‹r›os »Gips; gipserne Salbenbüchse« zurück …   Das Herkunftswörterbuch

  • Alabaster [2] — Alabaster, Balsambüchschen in Form einer Birne; aus Alabasterstein, d.i. einem von unserem Alabaster verschiedenen sintrigen, faserigen Kalkstein, gemacht …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Alabaster — Alabaster. Eine Kalkart. In der Regel sehr weiß, von seinem Gefüge, halb durchsichtig. Wegen seines schönen Aussehens ist er als Stein zu Statuen kleinerer Art sehr geschätzt. In Florenz gibt es ganze Fabriken, welche sich mit nichts Anderem… …   Damen Conversations Lexikon

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