England or Great Britain. Often used poetically.
Dictionary:
Al·bi·on (ăl'bē-ən) ![]() |
| Word Overheard: Albion |
The occasion of Queen Elizabeth's visit to the United States prompted some musings by New York Times columnist David Brooks on the nature of the Englishman. Albion is a nickname for Great Britain, probably from the Latin albus (white) in a reference to the white cliffs of Dover (the part of England that is closest to the European continent):
"Although I've been an Anglophile all my life, I was never able to participate in a fawning orgy of Albion worship until the British ambassador's party for the monarch yesterday afternoon. It was wonderful. I got to enjoy many of the features I love about Britain: repressed emotions, overarticulate conversationalists and crustless sandwiches."
Link: Where History Reigns - New York Times
Posted May 9, 2007.
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| Classical Literature Companion: Albion |
Albion, the ancient (Celtic or pre-Celtic) name for Britain, soon ousted by the Celtic ‘Britannia’. The Romans connected it with albus, ‘white’, and referred it to the cliffs of Dover.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: Albion |
| Wikipedia: Albion |
| This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2009) |
Albion (Greek: Ἀλβιών) is the oldest known name of the island of Great Britain. It is thought to derive from the white cliffs of Dover. Today, it is still sometimes used poetically to refer to the island or (incorrectly) England in particular. It is also the basis of the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland, Alba.
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This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2009) |
Gallo-Latin Albiōn (cf. Middle Irish Albbu) derives from the Proto-Celtic * Alb-i̯en-, sharing the same stem as Welsh elfydd "earth, world", together with other toponyms such as Alpes. The Latin word alba is the feminine singular form of albus, meaning "white" in English.
The early writer (6th century BC) whose periplus was translated by Avienus at the end of the 4th century AD (see Massaliote Periplus) does not use the name Britannia; he speaks of nesos 'Iernon kai 'Albionon: the islands of the Ierni and the Albiones. Likewise, Pytheas of Massilia (ca. 320 BC) speaks of Albion and Ierne. But Pytheas' grasp of the νῆσος Πρεττανική nesos Prettanicé (Britanic island) is somewhat blurry, and appears to include anything he considers a western island, including Thule.[1]
By the 1st century AD, the name refers unequivocally to Great Britain. The Pseudo-Aristotelian text De mundo (393b) has:
Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History (4.16.102) likewise has:
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| albyn | |
| nook-shotten | |
| Albion (city, Michigan) |
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![]() | Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more | |
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