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amber

Etymology and origin of the English word amber

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1350
Borrowed from
Old French ambre
Ultimate origin
Arabic (عنبر)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈæm.bə/, US /ˈæm.bɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French ambre,[2][3][4] a learned borrowing of Medieval Latin ambar, ambra,[2][4][5] from Arabic ʿanbar, ambergris (see ambergris).[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ambergris, the waxy whale product used in perfume: probably about 1350 in Barnhart, the mid-14th century in Etymonline.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The name was extended to the yellow fossil resin found on Baltic shores (late 13th century in Anglo-Latin, about 1400 in English),[3][6] perhaps because both were found washed up on beaches,[3] and this became the main sense as ambergris fell out of use.[3] French told them apart as ambre jaune, yellow amber, and ambre gris, grey amber, and English kept the distinction only in ambergris.[2][3] The Romans knew Baltic amber, with its static electricity, as electrum (see electric).[3] As an adjective, amber is from about 1500, and as a colour name from 1735;[3] in Britain the amber traffic light comes between red and green.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 1350 – ambergris.[2]
  • c. 1400 – the fossil resin.[6][3]
  • c. 1500 – amber (adjective).[3]
  • 1735 – the colour.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A hard, clear, yellow or brownish fossil resin, used for jewellery.
  2. A brownish-yellow colour.
  3. (UK) The yellow traffic light between red and green.

Adjective

  1. Of the colour of amber; brownish-yellow.

Word family

  • amberlike
  • amberfish
  • amberjack
  • amberoid

Usage notes

A separate Old English amber, a pail or a dry measure, was borrowed from Latin amphora.[5]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Amber.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/amber. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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