Albayad
Albayad arabice est dictum album.
Apparatus:
Albayad AC | Albaiad H | Albiad B efjp
dictum | dictu B
Est etiam cerusa add. H
Translation:
Albayad is Arabic for Latin album {"white"}.
Commentary:
Albayad:
Wehr (1976): ﺑﻴﺎﺾ /bayāḍ/ "white, whiteness; whitewash". With article: ﺍﻟﺒﻴﺎﺩ /al-bayāḍ/, from the root √byḍ meaning "white". The form Albiad appearing in witnesses B efjp is likely to reflect a North African pronunciation, cf. Prémare (1993-9: 373): ﺑﻴﺎﺾ byāḍ "1. blancheur; spec. blancheur du teint chez une femme …" {i.e. whiteness, especially the whiteness of the skin of a woman … }.
The additional note in print H, stating that Albaiad also means cerusa {"white lead"} is interesting: ﺍﻟﺒﻴﺎﺾ /al-bayāḍ/ with the basic meaning "whiteness" acquired in some parts the more technical meaning "white-lead", which seems to have been usual especially in the Iberian Peninsula. This explains why it is this Arabic word that was passed on to the Romance Iberian languages: Catalan albaiat, Castilian albayalde, Gallego albaialde and Portuguese alvaiade.
This is confirmed by Corominas (1980-91: 116), vol. A-CA, s.v. ALBAYALDE who writes that bayâḍ with the meaning "white lead" is attested as early on as in Abenbuclárix {also: Abenbeclarix, Ibn Biklariš} (ca. 1106) in the Arabic of Spain. Abenbuclárix was a Jewish physician who wrote the /kitāb al-mustaʕīnī/ - the "Book of {or dedicated to the Ruler} al-Mustaʕīn" - [[1]], a book on simple drugs.
Cf. also Prémare (1993-9: 374): {Moroccan Arabic} byāḍ l-ūğăh {classic Arabic: ﺑﻴﺎﺾ ﺍﻠﻮﺟﻪ /bayād al-wağh/ lit. "whiteness of the face"} "blanc de céruse, fard blanc pour le visage" {i.e. ceruse white, white face make-up}.
WilfGunther 12/04/2013
See also: Cerusa, Asfidegi Leucos
