Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Alabaster
Al′a-bas′ter
,Noun.
[L.
alabaster
, Gr. ἀλάβαστρος
, said to be derived fr. Alabastron
, the name of a town in Egypt, near which it was common: cf. OF. alabastre
, F. albâtre
.] 1.
(Min.)
(a)
A compact variety or sulphate of lime, or gypsum, of fine texture, and usually white and translucent, but sometimes yellow, red, or gray. It is carved into vases, mantel ornaments, etc.
(b)
A hard, compact variety of carbonate of lime, somewhat translucent, or of banded shades of color; stalagmite. The name is used in this sense by Pliny. It is sometimes distinguished as oriental alabaster.
2.
A box or vessel for holding odoriferous ointments, etc.; – so called from the stone of which it was originally made.
Fosbroke.
Webster 1828 Edition
Alabaster
AL'ABASTER
,Noun.
A sub-variety of carbonate of lime, found in large masses, formed by the deposition of calcarious particles in caverns of limestone rocks. These concretions have a foliated, fibrous or granular structure, and are of a pure white color, or more generally they present shades of yellow, red or brown, in undulating or concentric stripes, or in spots.
Among the ancients, alabaster was also the name of a vessel in which odoriferous liquors were kept; so called from the stone of which it was made. Also, the name of a measure, containing ten ounces of wine or nine of oil.
AL'ABASTER
,Adj.
Alabastrum dendroide, a kind of laminated alabaster, variegated with figures of shrubs and trees, found in the province of Hohenstein.
Definition 2024
Alabaster
Alabaster
See also: alabaster
German
Noun
Alabaster m (genitive Alabasters, plural Alabaster)
- (mineralogy) alabaster
Declension
Declension of Alabaster
| singular | plural | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| indef. | def. | noun | def. | noun | |
| nominative | ein | der | Alabaster | die | Alabaster |
| genitive | eines | des | Alabasters | der | Alabaster |
| dative | einem | dem | Alabaster | den | Alabastern |
| accusative | einen | den | Alabaster | die | Alabaster |
Derived terms
- alabastern
- alabasterfarben
alabaster
alabaster
See also: Alabaster
English
A lamp whose shade has been crafted from alabaster.
Alternative forms
- alabastre (obsolete)
- alablaster (obsolete)
Noun
alabaster (usually uncountable, plural alabasters)
- A fine-grained white or lightly-tinted variety of gypsum, used ornamentally.
- c. 1596, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act I, Scene I, lines 89-90
- Why should a man, whose blood is warm within,
- Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster?
- 1867 Dante Alghieri, The Divine Comedy, Paradiso, Canto XV, lines 22-23 (translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
- Nor was the flame dissevered from its ribbon
- But like a radiant fillet ran along
- So that fire seemed it behind alabaster.
- 1915, The New York Times, "Egyptian Antiquities for Metropolitan" (pdf), 15 May
- One of the striking relics found at the tomb, was a Canopic portrait head of Queen Tii, made entirely of alabaster except the eyes and eyebrows, which were inlaid lapis lazuli and osidian.
- c. 1596, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act I, Scene I, lines 89-90
- (historical) A variety of calcite, translucent and sometimes banded.
Translations
variety of gypsum
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Adjective
alabaster (not comparable)
- Made of alabaster
- The crown is stored in an alabaster box with an onyx handle and a gold lock.
- 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Mark 14:3
- And being in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.
- 1980, Colin Thubron, Seafarers: The Venetians, page 41:
- An enameled miniature of Christ is set in the center of a jeweled alabaster paten, the plate that holds the bread during Communion services.
- Resembling alabaster: white, pale, translucent.
- An ominous alabaster fog settled in the valley.
- 1594, William Shakespeare, "The Rape of Lucrece", lines 418-420
- With more than admiration he admir’d
- Her azure veins, her alabaster skin,
- Her coral lips, her snow-white dimpled chin.
- before 1887, Emily Dickinson, "Safe in Their Alabaster Chambers"
- Safe in their alabaster chambers
- Untouched by morning, untouched by noon
- Sleep the meek members of the resurrection,
- Rafters of satin, and roof of stone.
- 1895, Katherine Lee Bates, "America the Beautiful"
- Thy alabaster cities gleam
- Undimmed by human tears!
Translations
made of alabaster
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Latin
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /a.laˈbas.ter/, [a.ɫaˈbas.tɛr]
Noun
alabaster m (genitive alabastrī); second declension
Inflection
Second declension, nominative singular in -er.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | alabaster | alabastrī |
| genitive | alabastrī | alabastrōrum |
| dative | alabastrō | alabastrīs |
| accusative | alabastrum | alabastrōs |
| ablative | alabastrō | alabastrīs |
| vocative | alabaster1 | alabastrī |
1May also be alabastre.
Descendants
References
- alabaster in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- Félix Gaffiot (1934), “alabaster”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
- alabaster in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia
Polish
Noun
alabaster m inan
Declension
declension of alabaster
Derived terms
- alabastrowy