Dictionary.com
definitions

album

[al-buh m]
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR album ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

  1. a bound or loose-leaf book consisting of blank pages, pockets, envelopes, etc., for storing or displaying photographs, stamps, or the like, or for collecting autographs.
  2. a digital collection of photographs, stored on a computer or mobile device for viewing, displaying, or sharing.
  1. a record or set of records containing several musical selections, a complete play or opera, etc.: Her album of folk songs will be out next month.
  2. the package or container for such a record or records: The album has a pocket for each record.
  3. a collection of audio recordings released together as a collected work: The digital release of their debut album sold more copies than expected.
a printed book containing an anthology of writings, reproductions of photographs or artwork, musical compositions, etc.

RELATED CONTENT

Center Stage: 21 Words to Know for Music Festival Season1. Bonnaroo This festival name may bring to mind a bonanza of kangaroos, but bonnaroo is actually a Creole slang word that means “best on the street.” The inspiration for this festival name was the 1974 album Desitively Bonnaroo by jazz legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dr. John. Desitive is an obscure term meaning “conclusive.” This year, Capital Cities, Kanye West, and …
READ MORE
O Say Can You Hear? A Look at Our National Anthem’s Poetic RootsThe Poem that Inspired an Anthem The “Star-Spangled Banner” was adopted as our national anthem in 1931, and its soaring melody and densely packed lyrics have been tripping up those tasked with performing it ever since. The song has an unusual syntax because it was originally a poem, written by Francis Scott Key in 1814. While the Star-Spangled Banner is one of the more famous …
READ MORE

RELATED WORDS

collection, scrapbook, index, anthology, register, notebook, miscellany, depository, portfolio, memento, registry

Nearby words

  1. albright's disease,
  2. albright, ivan le lorraine,
  3. albright, madeleine,
  4. albronze,
  5. albuginea,
  6. album-oriented,
  7. albumblatt,
  8. albumen,
  9. albumen paper,
  10. albumen plate

Origin of album

1645–55; 1955–60 for def 2; < Latin: neuter singular of albus white, i.e., a blank (tablet) painted white for writing on
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for album

album

noun

a book or binder consisting of blank pages, pockets, or envelopes for keeping photographs, stamps, autographs, drawings, poems, etc
one or more CDs, cassettes, or long-playing records released as a single item
a booklike holder containing sleeves for gramophone records
mainly British an anthology, usually large and illustrated

Word Origin for album

C17: from Latin: blank tablet, from albus white
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for album

album

n.

1650s, from Latin album "white color, whiteness," neuter of albus "white" (see alb). In classical times "a blank tablet on which the Pontifex Maximus registered the principal events of the year; a list of names." Revived 16c. by German scholars whose custom was to keep an album amicorum of colleagues' signatures; meaning then expanded into "book to collect souvenirs." According to Johnson, "a book in which foreigners have long been accustomed to insert autographs of celebrated people." Photographic albums first recorded 1859. Meaning "long-playing gramophone record" is by 1951, because the sleeves they came in resembled large albums.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper