amber

amber · noun, adjective, verb¹

1. Middle Persian · derived from𐭠𐭭𐭡𐭫“ambergris”
2. Arabic · derived fromعَنْبَر“ambergris”
3. Old French · derived fromaumbre
4. Middle English · inherited fromambre
5. English todayamber

From Middle English ambre, aumbre, from Old French aumbre, ambre, from Arabic عَنْبَر (ʕanbar, “ambergris”), from Middle Persian 𐭠𐭭𐭡𐭫 (ʾnbl /⁠ambar⁠/, “ambergris”). Compare English lamber, ambergris. Displaced Middle English smulting (from Old English smelting (“amber”)), Old English eolhsand (“amber”), Old English glær (“amber”), and Old English sāp (“amber, resin, pomade”). * The nucleotide sequence "UAG" is named "amber" for the first person to isolate the amber mutation, California Institute of Technology graduate student Harris Bernstein, whose last name ("Bernstein") is the German word for the resin "amber".

Amber · proper noun²

1. Arabic · derived fromعَنْبَر“ambergris”
2. Latin · derived fromambar
3. Old French · derived fromambre
4. Middle English · derived fromambre
5. English todayAmber

From amber, from Middle English ambre, from Old French ambre, from Latin ambar, from Arabic عَنْبَر (ʕanbar, “ambergris”).

Amber · proper noun³

1. Hindi · borrowed fromअंबर
2. English todayAmber

Borrowed from Hindi अंबर (ambar).

Amber · proper noun⁴

From a pre-Celtic word.

First known use, by meaning

• 14th–18th c. Ambergris, the waxy product of the sperm whale.
• 14th–18th c. Formerly thought to be the product of a plant.
• from 15th c. A hard, generally yellow to brown translucent or transparent fossil resin from extinct coniferous trees of the pine genus, used for jewellery, decoration and later dissolved as a binder in varnishes. One variety, blue amber, appears blue rather than yellow under direct sunlight.