alabaster means made of alabaster.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, alabaster ranks #2,678 of 14,410 for Most Ponderous Words, #2,737 of 14,445 for Most Beautiful Words, #7,082 of 14,423 for Most Sublime Words, #7,100 of 14,440 for Most Satisfying to Say.
alabaster is pronounced /ˈæl.əˌbɑːs.tə/.
Why “alabaster” is a great word
A fine-grained, translucent variety of gypsum or calcite, prized for its softness for carving and its luminous quality. From Middle English alabastre, from Old French alabastre, from Latin alabaster ('perfume box'), from Ancient Greek ἀλάβαστρος (alábastros) or ἀλάβαστος (alábastos, 'perfume vase'), likely derived from Egyptian ꜥ-r-bꜯstjt ('vessel of the goddess Bast'). Unlike 'marble,' which is hard, cold, and polishes to a brilliant shine, or 'porcelain,' which is a brittle, fired artifice, alabaster is yielding, softly luminous, and coolly organic. It is the hollowed vessel that once held precious unguents for the dead, the carved sepulchre angel whose features have been worn smooth by centuries of reaching hands, and the small lamp whose glow diffuses through its thin walls like captured moonlight—a substance that seems already half-dissolved into light, as if the boundary between matter and radiance were never meant to hold.
Etymology
From Middle English alabastre, from Old French alabastre, from Latin alabaster (“box for perfumes or unguents”), from Ancient Greek ἀλάβαστρος (alábastros), from earlier ἀλάβαστος (alábastos, “vase without handles for storing perfumes”). This may further derive from Egyptian ꜥj-r-bꜣstjt (“vessel of the Egyptian goddess Bast”). The Latin suffix -aster is unrelated, but may have influenced the spelling of the borrowing from Ancient Greek (whence a direct loan could have been rendered as *alabastrus).
adj
- Made of alabaster.“The crown is stored in an alabaster box with an onyx handle and a gold lock.”
- Resembling alabaster; white, pale, smooth, translucent.“An ominous alabaster fog settled in the valley.”
name
- A city in Shelby County, Alabama, United States.
noun
- A fine-grained white or lightly-tinted variety of gypsum, used ornamentally.“Why ſhould a man whoſe bloud is warme within,
Sit like his Grandſire, cut in Alabaſter?”
- A variety of calcite, translucent and sometimes banded.
- A sculpture executed in alabaster.“Beautiful oviform vases and covers, jars and covers with flowers and foliage, Italian alabasters, copies of the antique, were ranged side by side with Chinese ginger jars and common preserve bottles of birds'eggs[…]”
- An off-white color, like that of alabaster.
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- amethyst 80% match — A transparent purple to violet variety of quartz with traces of manganese, used as a gemstone. vs alabaster →
- porcelain 80% match — A hard white translucent ceramic, originally made by firing kaolin, quartz, and feldspar at high temperatures but now also inclusive of similar artificial materials; also often (figurative) such a material as a symbol of the fragility, elegance, etc. traditionally associated with porcelain goods. vs alabaster →
- meerschaum 80% match — A soft white mineral, chiefly used for smoking-pipes and cigar holders. vs alabaster →
- sarcophagus 80% match — A stonen coffin, often with its exterior inscribed, or decorated with sculpture. vs alabaster →
- malachite 80% match — A bright green mineral, a basic copper carbonate, Cu₂CO₃(OH)₂; one of the principal ores of copper. vs alabaster →
- murrhine 80% match — Made of murra; applied to certain valuable vases of great beauty and delicacy used by the luxurious in Rome as wine cups. vs alabaster →
- emerald 80% match — Any of various green gemstones, especially a green transparent form of beryl, highly valued as a precious stone. vs alabaster →
- translucency 79% match — the quality of being translucent vs alabaster →