Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An earthen vessel, cylindrical in general shape, the sides externally concave, used in the fifteenth century and later as a drug-pot.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A ceramic pharmacy or drug jar, generally majolica ware. They are usually tall rather than wide, and often of a waisted shape. Albarelli originated in the Middle East but their name is from Italian.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Italian

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Examples

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  • A Majolica jar used especially as a container for drugs.

    February 7, 2008

  • http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/museum/esim.asp?c=100012

    "The albarello (or alberello) is the oldest type of pharmacy jar, designed to contain dense, viscous substances. Most albarelli were cylinder-shaped with a wide opening. They were often tapered at the center for easier handling. In the earliest models, the lids consisted of parchment sheets, but later versions had ceramic lids, sometimes fitted with a knob and handles. The Near Eastern style raises the possibility that the albarello reached the West via the Arab invasion of the Mediterranean. But some experts see the albarello as an imitation of the bamboo packaging in which medicinal drugs were shipped from the Orient."

    October 11, 2008

  • A ceramic pharmacy or drug jar, generally majolica ware. They are usually tall rather than wide, and often of a waisted shape.

    August 18, 2020