# alabaster

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈæl.əˌbɑːs.tə/ · frequency rank #40,991

## Definitions
1. A fine-grained white or lightly-tinted variety of gypsum, used ornamentally.
2. A variety of calcite, translucent and sometimes banded.
3. An off-white colour, like that of alabaster.

## 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).

## Common misspellings (13)
`aalbaster`, `alaabster`, `alabasetr`, `alabasster`, `alabasterr`, `alabastre`, `alabastter`, `alabatser`, `alabbaster`, `alabsater`, `albaaster`, `allabaster`, `laabaster`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/alabaster