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albino|ælˈbiːnəʊ, ælˈbaɪnəʊ|
Pl. -os.
[a. Sp. or Pg. albino (originally applied by the Portuguese to white Negroes on the coast of Africa) an appellative f. albo white.]
Used attrib. in all senses.
1. A human being distinguished by the congenital absence (partial or total) of colouring pigment in the skin, hair, and eyes, so that the former are abnormally white, and the latter of a pink colour, and unable to bear the ordinary light.
1777Robertson Amer. II. 69 The former are called Albinos by the Portuguese. 1808[See albiness]. 1819Pantologia s.v., Albinos..first noticed by the Portuguese as existing among African negroes. 1834Nat. Philos. III. 62/1 (U.K.S.) The albino varieties in mankind. 1879G. C. Harlan Eyesight ii. 15 The eyes of albinos are pink..from the red blood in the vessels of the choroid in which also pigment is absent.
2. By extension, Any animal having the same peculiarity, as white mice, rabbits, cats, elephants, etc.
1859Darwin Orig. Spec. v. 163 A white ass, but not an albino. 1865Tylor E. Hist. Man. x. 274 In Africa, the albino buffalo shares the sanctity of the elephant. 1874Coues Birds of N.-W. 47 A curious partial albino, which had the plumage irregularly blotched with pure white.
3. Sometimes also said of plants in which no chlorophyll is developed in the leaves.
1879Syd. Soc. Lex., Albino plants may be obtained by causing them to germinate and grow in a damp place. No chlorophyll is formed and they are said to be etiolated.
Add: Hence alˈbinic a. = albinistic a.
1903Science 9 Jan. 75/2 Two of the sons, apparently, married wives who were ‘pure dominants’, i.e., who were entirely free from the recessive (albinic) character. 1910Amer. Naturalist XLIV. 727 Two albinic parents have only albinic offspring. 1984Zool. Sci. I. 309/2 Three produced albinic tadpoles together with nearly the same number of wild-type tadpoles. |