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alb-

White or bright.

Latin albus, white.

An albino is a person or animal with abnormally white skin and hair, resulting from a lack of pigment, hence albinism for the condition; in astronomy, the albedo of a celestial body is the extent to which it reflects light, how bright it is; albumen is egg white, or the protein contained in it.

The same prefix occurs less obviously in albatross (from the Spanish alcatras for the frigate bird, changed and applied to the albatross under the influence of albus, the bird being white); album (originally applied in Roman times to a blank, or white, tablet on which public notices were inscribed); and Albion as an ancient name for the British Isles, in reference to the white cliffs of Dover.

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