Etymograph

English

albino

Albino comes from Portuguese albino ‘albinistic, albino’, from Latin albus ‘white, dull white’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *albʰós.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*albʰós1‘white’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*alβos1‘white’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEalbus2‘white, dull white’
  4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500albinus2
  5. Portuguesec. 1500–presentalbino3‘albinistic, albino’
  6. Englishtodayalbino3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin albus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Portuguese albino
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English albino

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*albʰósWiktionary, Latin albus‘white’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*alβosWiktionary, Latin albus‘white’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEalbusWiktionary, Portuguese albino‘white, dull white’
  4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500albinusWiktionary, Portuguese albino
  5. Portuguesec. 1500–presentalbinoWiktionary, English albino‘albinistic, albino’
  6. EnglishtodayalbinoWiktionary, English albino

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *albʰós ‘white’

elf, elven, oaf, 27 more

through Proto-Italic *alβos ‘white’

albedo, albumin, albumen, 26 more

through Latin albus ‘white, dull white’

album, alba, 28 more

Today it means

adj Congenitally lacking melanin pigmentation in the skin, eyes, and hair or feathers (or more rarely only in the eyes); born with albinism.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “albino”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin albus, Portuguese albino. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *albʰós / albino

Shirt and support for this word