albino

American  

[al-bahy-noh, -bee-] / ælˈbaɪ noʊ, -ˈbi- /

noun

plural

albinos

1. a person with pale skin, light hair, pinkish eyes, and visual abnormalities resulting from a hereditary inability to produce the pigment melanin.

2. an animal or plant with a marked deficiency in pigmentation.

3. Philately. an embossed stamp accidentally left without ink.

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albino British  

/ ˌælbɪˈnɒtɪk, ælˈbiːnəʊ, ælˈbɪnɪk, ˈælbɪˌnɪzəm /

noun

1. a person with congenital absence of pigmentation in the skin, eyes, and hair

2. any animal or plant that is deficient in pigment

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albino Scientific  

/ ăl-bī′nō /

1. An organism lacking normal pigmentation or coloration. Animals that are albinos lack pigmentation due to a congenital absence of melanin. In humans and other mammals, albinos have white hair, pale skin, and usually pinkish eyes. Plants that are albinos lack normal amounts of chlorophyll or other pigments.

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Other Word Forms

• albinal adjective
• albinic adjective
• albinism noun
• albinotic adjective

Etymology

Origin of albino

1770–80; < Portuguese, equivalent to alb ( o ) white (< Latin albus ) + -ino -ine ¹

Example Sentences

A sad farewell to Claude, the albino alligator.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 20, 2026

Claude, a rare albino alligator whose ghostly white scales and statue-like stillness earned him a cult-like following around the world, died Tuesday, according to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 3, 2025

Anthropic’s San Francisco headquarters is crawling with stuffed albino alligators.

From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 16, 2025

Consider caviar: while Baerii caviar costs around 1,600 euros per kilogram, Almas caviar – a rare delicacy from albino beluga sturgeon – can exceed 30,000 euros per kilogram.

From Salon • Jan. 7, 2025

Or was it like he was in special ed, because if that was what albino meant, then people probably thought I was albino too.

From "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds