amber English · revision 10756

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1350|origins=fro ambre|origins=la-med ambar|origins=ar عنبر}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈæm.bə/, US /ˈæm.bɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fro|ambre]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) a learned borrowing of Medieval Latin ambar, ambra,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from Arabic ʿanbar, ambergris (see [[ambergris]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Ambergris, the waxy whale product used in perfume: probably about 1350 in Barnhart, the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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),^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) perhaps because both were found washed up on beaches,^(Etymonline) and this became the main sense as ambergris fell out of use.^(Etymonline) French told them apart as ambre jaune, yellow amber, and ambre gris, grey amber, and English kept the distinction only in ambergris.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The Romans knew Baltic amber, with its static electricity, as electrum (see [[electric]]).^(Etymonline) As an adjective, amber is from about 1500, and as a colour name from 1735;^(Etymonline) in Britain the amber traffic light comes between red and green.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1350 – ambergris.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1400 – the fossil resin.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1500 – amber (adjective).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1735 – the colour.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A hard, clear, yellow or brownish fossil [[resin]], used for jewellery.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A brownish-yellow colour.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(UK)'' The yellow traffic light between red and green.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of the colour of amber; brownish-yellow.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[amberlike]]

+ * [[amberfish]]

+ * [[amberjack]]

+ * [[amberoid]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ambergris]]

+ * [[ambrette]]

+ * [[liquidambar]]

+ * [[pomander]]

+ * [[electric]]

+ * [[electron]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate Old English amber, a pail or a dry measure, was borrowed from Latin amphora.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}