alb

1 of 2

noun

ˈalb 

: a full-length white linen ecclesiastical vestment with long sleeves that is gathered at the waist with a cincture

Alb

2 of 2

abbreviation

Albania; Albanian

Examples of alb in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Vestments: amice, alb, cincture, and simple white miter. —Giulia Carbonaro, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Apr. 2025

As residents filled the seats, Strassburger pulled on a simple white alb and a purple stole and began the Mass. —Jack Herrera, The New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2024

The Colobium Sindonis This piece appears as a white linen tunic with a collar fastened with a single button, fashioned after a priest's alb. —Chelsey Sanchez, Harper's BAZAAR, 8 May 2023

Pope Jude Law has fifteen outfits, a fresh alb and tippet for each aspect of his mercurial personality. —Tad Friend, The New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2017

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English albe, aube, in part borrowed from Anglo-French, going back to Late Latin alba "white garment or vestment, originally one worn by the recently baptized" (shortened from collocations with tunica "tunic" or vestis "garment"), from feminine of Latin albus "white, light-colored, fair"; in part going back to Old English albe (feminine weak noun), borrowed from Late Latin alba — more at album

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

alb

noun

ˈalb 

: a full-length white linen vestment worn by priests at the Eucharist

Medical Definition

alb

abbreviation

variants or ALB

albumin

… the increased ALB concentration observed in fascicular biopsies of diabetic patients with and without neuropathy may be related to the protein itself …

—Joseph F. Poduslo and Geoffrey L. Curran, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences