An Album Was Once a Blank White Board
An album is a collection of photographs or recordings. The Latin word means white, and it named the blank tablet on which notices were posted.
An album is a book for photographs or a collection of recordings. Latin *album* meant simply a white thing — a whitened board on which Roman officials posted public notices. It came into English in the 1600s for a blank book collecting signatures and mementoes, and the record industry borrowed it in the 1950s. The same root gives *albino* and *albumen*, the white of an egg.
- A book of photographs. *A family album.*
- A collection of recordings. *Their second album.*
- A stamp album. *A well-filled stamp album.*
- Concept album — one built around a theme. *A concept album.*
- Albumen — egg white, from the same root. *Whipped albumen.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | album | A debut album. |
| Plural | albums | Three albums. |
| Latin | albus | White. |
| Related | albino | An albino rabbit. |
| Related | albumen | Egg albumen. |
- The album sold two million copies.Music.
- She kept the photographs in an album.The book.
- Album meant a white board in Latin.Etymology.
Why records were called albums
- Early 78s held one song per side
- A set of them was sold in a bound book of paper sleeves
- That book looked like a photograph album, and took the name
- The LP arrived in 1948 and held a whole album's worth on one disc
- The word stayed even after the book disappeared
Latin *album*, a white tablet, the neuter of *albus*, white. English took it in the 1650s for a blank book, and the recording sense followed in the twentieth century.
Why is a record called an album?
Because sets of 78rpm discs were sold in bound books resembling photograph albums. The name outlived the format.
Are album and albino related?
Yes. Both come from Latin albus, white.