Etymograph

English

albedo

Albedo comes from Latin albēdō ‘whiteness’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *albʰós.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*albʰós‘white’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*alβos‘white’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEalb(us)
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEalbēdō‘whiteness’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2022albedo

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*albʰós‘white’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*alβos‘white’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEalb(us)
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEalbēdō‘whiteness’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2022albedo

Earliest quotation: 2022, Gareth Dennis, How can we run trains when the heat is on?: “For track, painting rails white at weak points that…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *albʰós ‘white’

elf, elven, oaf, albumin, albumen, 27 more

through Proto-Italic *alβos ‘white’

album, alba, albino, 28 more

Today it means

noun The fraction of incident light or radiation reflected by a surface or body, commonly expressed as a percentage.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *albʰós / albedo

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