alabaster

AL'ABASTER, noun [Latin from Gr.]A sub-variety of carbonate of lime, found in large masses, formed by the deposition of calcarious particles in caverns of limestone rocks. These concretions have a foliated, fibrous or granular structure, and are of a pure white color, or more generally they present shades of yellow, red or brown, in undulating or concentric stripes, or in spots.Among the ancients, alabaster was also the name of a vessel in which odoriferous liquors were kept; so called from the stone of which it was made. Also, the name of a measure, containing ten ounces of wine or nine of oil.AL'ABASTER, adjective Made of alabaster or resembling it.Alabastrum dendroide, a kind of laminated alabaster variegated with figures of shrubs and trees, found in the province of Hohenstein