alabaster
Other forms: alabasters
Alabaster is a pale mineral that's soft enough for carving. In museums, you're likely to see statues and vases carved from alabaster.
The root of alabaster is a Greek word meaning "perfume vase," alabastros. You'll also find ancient tomb carvings, windows in medieval cathedrals, and Egyptian sarcophagi made of alabaster. Alabaster is usually white, and because it is translucent, seems lit from within. For this reason, it often describes a pale complexion that seems to glow from the inside.
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a compact fine-textured, usually white gypsum used for carvingtype of:gypsuma common white or colorless mineral (hydrated calcium sulphate) used to make cements and plasters (especially plaster of Paris)
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a hard compact kind of calcitesynonyms: Mexican onyx, onyx marble, oriental alabastertype of:calcitea common mineral consisting of crystallized calcium carbonate; a major constituent of limestone
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a very light white
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of or resembling alabaster“alabaster statue”synonyms: alabastrine
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Vocabulary lists containing alabaster
Shipwrecked and blinded from a torpedo attack, Phillip must conquer his prejudices when his only companion is an elderly West Indian man named Timothy.
In this novel, a boy with facial anomalies tries to navigate the sometimes treacherous world of public school.
