album

noun

al·​bum ˈal-bəm How to pronounce album (audio)
plural albums
1
a(1)
: a book for holding a collection of items (such as photographs, stamps, or coins) on pages that are initially blank
a photo album
(2)
: a digital folder (as on a smartphone or computer) for grouping image or video files
b
: a collection of one or more audio recordings that is presented as a single unit and is typically longer than a single or an EP
a 2-CD album
She released her new album on vinyl as well as digitally.
c
dated : a cardboard container for one or more phonograph records : jacket
2
: a collection usually in book form of literary selections, musical compositions, or pictures : anthology

Examples of album in a Sentence

She played a track from the group's latest album. a special anniversary album of his poetry published 100 years after his death
Recent Examples on the Web Taylor Swift is buzzing about the response to her new album. Escher Walcott, Peoplemag, 22 Apr. 2024 Swift’s 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department is already a global record-beater. Lars Brandle, Billboard, 22 Apr. 2024 The album, which all members wrote for, earned the global stars their first Billboard 200 No. 1 in December. Nicole Fell, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Apr. 2024 Fans can now listen to the album — which shattered streaming records after its release on April 19 — along with commentary from Swift breaking down the meaning of each track. Ellise Shafer, Variety, 22 Apr. 2024 Swift's sprawling, autobiographical 11th album was initially released as 16 songs at midnight on Friday. Anastasia Tsioulcas, NPR, 22 Apr. 2024 Thousands upon thousands of drawings, prints, photographs, Japanese paintings on silk, Chinese albums, manuscripts, Buddhist thangkas, book plates, textiles and much more cannot be on permanent view. Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2024 Despite an extended stint in Seattle and growing up in Upstate New York, Kamp is a California country-rocker through and through, and his latest album, California Son, reads like a love letter to the Golden State. Garret K. Woodward, Rolling Stone, 21 Apr. 2024 During a break from Albarn’s Gorillaz, the group went back on the road in 2023 for the first time in eight years and also released The Ballad of Darren, their first new album since 2015’s The Magic Whip. Spin Staff, SPIN, 21 Apr. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'album.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

earlier, "book in which signatures, epigrams, verse, etc., are inscribed as mementos," borrowed from New Latin (short for album amīcōrum "register of friends"), going back to Latin, "the color white, white tablet or noticeboard, official list or register," noun derivative from neuter of albus "white, light-colored, fair, transparent," perhaps going back to Indo-European *h2elbho- "white," whence also Umbrian alfu, neuter accusative plural, "white," Greek alphós "skin disorder manifested as white spots, probably vitiligo"

Note: The reconstruction of *h2elbho- with *h2e is necessary as long as Indo-European a is not admitted, but nothing else appears to support the reconstruction. The etymon has been implicated in the Celtic derivative nominal base *albii̯o- "world," whence Welsh elfydd "world, earth, land, country" (Old Welsh elbid, Middle Welsh eluit) and the Gaulish divine name Albiorīx, literally, "world-king." According to this hypothesis, *albii̯o- forms a counterpart to Celtic *dubno- (> *dumno-) "world," whence Old Irish domun "world," Gaulish Dumnorīx, a personal name, literally, "world-king." Originally these two etyma would have denoted distinct entities, *albii̯o-, from *albho- "white," being the lighter, brighter upper world (compare semantically Old Church Slavic světŭ "light, world"); *dubno-, on the other hand, nominalized from the adjective *dubno- "deep" (whence Old Irish domain "deep," Welsh dwfn), denoted the depths of the earth and bodies of water (see deep entry 1). Attempts have been made, with varying degrees of acceptance, to link *albho- "white" with other etyma, as a Germanic and Slavic word for "swan" (Old English aelbitu [Corpus and Epinal glossaries], ylfetu, Middle High German albiz, elbiz, Old Icelandic ǫlpt, genitive alptar, Russian lébedʼ, Polish łabędź, Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian lȁbūd); also with a variety of geographical names, as Latin Albis "the river Elbe" and other river names (compare Old Icelandic elfr "river," Danish elv, Swedish älv), Latin Alpēs "the Alps"; and with Germanic *albi-, *alba-, name of a mythological being (see elf).

First Known Use

1849, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

Time Traveler
The first known use of album was in 1849

Dictionary Entries Near album

Cite this Entry

“Album.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/album. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

album

noun
al·​bum ˈal-bəm How to pronounce album (audio)
1
a
: a book with blank pages in which to put a collection (as of autographs, stamps, or photographs)
b
: a container for a phonograph record
c
: one or more recordings (as on tape or disc) produced as a single collection
2
: a collection usually in book form of literary selections, musical compositions, or pictures : anthology

Medical Definition

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