album

American  

[al-buhm] / ˈæl bəm /

noun

• albums
  plural

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. a printed book containing an anthology of writings, reproductions of photographs or artwork, musical compositions, etc.

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album British  

/ ˈælbəm /

noun

1. a book or binder consisting of blank pages, pockets, or envelopes for keeping photographs, stamps, autographs, drawings, poems, etc

2. one or more CDs, cassettes, or long-playing records released as a single item

3. a booklike holder containing sleeves for gramophone records

4. an anthology, usually large and illustrated

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• albums
  plural

Etymology

Origin of album

First recorded in 1610–20; 1955–60 album for def. 2; from Latin: neuter singular of albus “white,” i.e., a blank (tablet) painted white for writing on

Explanation

An album is a book of photographs, mementos, or a collection of some other kind — like music. As digital forms of photographs and music become more popular, albums are becoming a thing of the past. A photo album is full of pictures, and a stamp collector's album contains stamps from different countries. Another kind of album is a collection of songs, either on a record or a CD. In Latin, album means "white," and in ancient times it referred to a blank tablet. 16th century German academics kept what they called an album amicorum, or a collection of colleagues' signatures, and from there album came to mean "souvenir book."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

album albums

But she quickly realized the error of her ways, thanks to a Laura Marling album of Raffi covers.

From Slate ● Sep. 2, 2026

Perhaps a 10th album, released 20 years later, will be self-titled and need no formal introduction.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

But this is an album about celebrating eccentricity, and she has plenty of that to go around.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Serge has welcomed the BBC into his studio to preview Kasabian's ninth album, Act III, 10 days before its release.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

He gave it to Kallman again, and Kallman gave the album to all of his executives at Atlantic.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

A pair of new jazz albums from the saxophonist-flutist-composer—one with his group Zooid and the other the recording debut of his trio with Vijay Iyer and Dafnis Prieto—highlight his dense yet immersive music.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

"It adds to the atmosphere of a record. But for the last three albums, I've pretty much led a structured life, and I'm really digging it."

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

Performing regularly on his variety show introduced her to an audience of millions, and the pair pumped out popular duet albums.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

“I started making up songs because I wanted to listen to music in Spanish that sounded like my favorite albums in English, which I couldn’t understand.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

Picture albums, address books, receipt-keeping, these were the happy tasks of people completely staked to one another, so that they could produce a chit on demand, order and reorder their memories for a future day.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

Related Words

• collection
• scrapbook