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 coloring pigment in the skin, hair, and eyes, so that the former are abnormally white, and the latter of a pink color, and unable to bear the ordinary light.
1777. Robertson, Amer., II. 69. The former are called Albinos by the Portuguese.
1808. (See under ALBINESS).
1819. Pantologia, s.v., Albinos … first noticed by the Portuguese as existing among African negroes.
1834. U. K. S., Nat. Philos., III. 62/1. The albino varieties in mankind.
1879. G. 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.
1859. Darwin, Orig. Spec., v. 163. A white ass, but not an albino.
1865. Tylor, Early Hist. Man., x. 274. In Africa, the albino buffalo shares the sanctity of the elephant.
1874. Coues, 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.
1879. Syd. 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.
