Earth & SkyGreek → English
Alabaster
/ˈæləbæstər/noun
A soft translucent stone, usually gypsum or calcite, carved into vessels and ornaments.
The Greek roots
ἀλάβαστρος
alábastros
perfume jar
Literally: “perfume flask”
Follow a root:ἀλάβαστρος1 word
The story of the word
The Greek word named a container before it named a stone: a narrow perfume flask with no handles, the kind broken open over Jesus' head at Bethany in Mark's account. The material took its name from the vessel rather than the other way round. Where the Greek itself came from is unsettled, and the often-repeated derivation from an Egyptian phrase involving the goddess Bast cannot be demonstrated.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → Old French → English
- First recorded
- 14th century
In a sentence
The effigy is alabaster, which is why two centuries of visitors' hands have worn the nose flat.