English Explanatory Dictionary

amber

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Ambergris, the waxy product of the sperm whale.
  2. Formerly thought to be the product of a plant.
  3. 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.
  4. A yellow-orange colour.
  5. The intermediate light in a set of three traffic lights, which when illuminated indicates that drivers should stop when safe to do so. See also yellow light.
  6. The stop codon (nucleotide triplet) "UAG", or a mutant which has this stop codon at a premature place in its DNA sequence.
  7. Hesitance to proceed, or limited approval to proceed; an amber light.
adj
  1. Of a brownish yellow colour, like that of most amber.
verb
  1. To perfume or flavour with ambergris.
  2. To preserve in amber.
  3. To cause to take on the yellow colour of amber.
  4. To take on the yellow colour of amber.
name
  1. A female given name from English, popular in the 1980s and the 1990s.
  2. A surname of uncertain origin.
name
  1. A male given name from Hindi.
  2. A city in Rajasthan, India, also known as Amer.
name
  1. A river in Derbyshire, England, which joins the River Derwent at Ambergate.
name
  1. Synonym of Ambel (“language”).

Pronunciation

/ˈæm.bəː/ [ˈæm.bəː] [ˈæm.bəː] ~ [ˈæm.bɐ̝ː] /ˈɛːm.bəː/ [ˈɛːm.bəː] ~ [ˈɛːm.bɐ̝ː] En-au-amber.ogg /ˈæm.bɚ/ [ˈæm.bɚ] ~ [ˈæm.bɹ̩] /ˈeə̯m.bɚ/ [ˈeə̯m.bɚ] ~ [ˈeə̯m.bɹ̩] /ˈɛə̯m.bɚ/ [ˈɛə̯m.bɚ] ~ [ˈɛə̯m.bɹ̩] En-us-amber.ogg /ˈæm.bə/ ăm'bər

Word forms

amber ambers more amber most amber ambering ambered Ambar

Etymology

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".

Synonyms

ambergris yellow Ambel

Antonyms

red green

Related words

ambergris ambrette liquidambar pomander yellowhammer copal electrum succinic succinic acid traffic light

Derived words

acid of amber ambeer Amber amber alert ambered amberfish amber fluid amber forest cockroach amber gambler amber-greace amber greace amber-grease amber grease amber-grece amber grece amber greece amber-greece amber-greese amber-grese amber grese amber grice amber-grice amber-griece amber griece amber-griese amber griese amber gris amber-gris amber grise amber-grise amberiferous ambering amberish amberjack amberlike amber liquid amber nectar amberoid amberous amber pudding amber seed ambersnail amber tree amberware amber wine amber wood cockroach ambery ambrite black amber gray amber grey amber preserved in amber salt of amber sweet-amber Amberlynn Ambergate Amber Valley
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