amber

Noun

amber (countable and uncountable, plural ambers)

1. (obsolete) Ambergris, the waxy product of the sperm whale.
   • Ambre is hote and drye […] Some say that it is the sparme of a whale.1526, The Grete Herball
   • As for Amber Grice, or Amber Cane, which ist most sweet myngled with other sweete thynges: some say it commeth from the rocks of the Sea. […] Some say it is gotten by a fish called Azelum, which feedeth upon Amber Grece, and dyeth, which is taken by cunnyng fishers and the belly opened, and this...1579, The Booke of Simples, fol. 56 (contained in Bulleins Bulwarke of Defence against all Sicknesse, Soarnesse, and Woundes)
   1. (obsolete) Formerly thought to be the product of a plant.
      • The leaves of the foreſt were loaded with manna, pure amber dropped from every bough, honey diſtilled from the rifted rock, and the humming bee, drunk with joy, ſtrayed from flower to flower, forgetful of his burſting cells.1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page iv
2. 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.
   • With scarfs and fans and double change of bravery,
     With amber bracelets, beads, and all this knavery.c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
   • Slanders, sir: for the satirical rogue says here that old men have grey beards, that their faces are wrinkled, their eyes purging thick amber and plum-tree gum and that they have a plentiful lack of wit.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
3. A yellow-orange colour.
   • And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ezekiel 1:4
4. (Australia, Commonwealth, UK) 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.
   • While earlier controllers provided concurrent ambers, present practice is to indicate a minimum intergreen period of 4 s.1974, Traffic Planning and Engineering, page 366
   • Also flashing ambers are not operational at this type of crossing.2000, Traffic Engineering & Control, volume 41, page 201

   Synonyms:

   yellow

5. The stop codon (nucleotide triplet) "UAG", or a mutant which has this stop codon at a premature place in its DNA sequence.
   • an amber codon, an amber mutation, an amber suppressor
   • For example, to cross a temperature-sensitive mutation with an amber mutation, amber suppressor cells are infected at the low (permissive) temperature.2007, Molecular Genetics of Bacteria, edition 3, page 333
6. (uncountable) Hesitance to proceed, or limited approval to proceed; an amber light.
   • […] in response to the actions I just described, business was given the green light, and now we seem to be on amber.1973, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Banking, Currency, and Housing, Hearings, Reports and Prints of the House Committee..., page 53

Adjective

amber (comparative more amber, superlative most amber)

1. Of a brownish yellow colour, like that of most amber.
   • They all moved safely through the first green and then the second, but when the third light turned amber Jack's taxi was the last to cross the intersection.2006, Jeffrey Archer, False Impression, page 270
   • Ahead, a cool breeze swept the pale morning sun across a grassy meadow turned amber by morning's frost.2008, Elizabeth Amber, Raine: The Lords of Satyr, page 211

Verb

amber (third-person singular simple present ambers, present participle ambering, simple past and past participle ambered)

1. (rare, transitive) To perfume or flavour with ambergris.
   • ambered wine, an ambered room
2. (rare, transitive) To preserve in amber.
   • an ambered fly
3. (literary, poetic, rare, transitive) To cause to take on the yellow colour of amber.
   • For purple mountains majesty; for amber waves of grain.1885, America the Beautiful
   • Home to the mosaic of coloured-lit windows in the black and white houses, the fake gas lamps ambering the cobbles, sometimes the scent of applewood smoke.2007, Phil Rickman, Fabric of Sin: A Merrily Watkins Mystery
4. (intransitive, literary, poetic, rare) To take on the yellow colour of amber.
   • Westward along Lancaster Avenue, among the stone walls and broad driveways of imposing old houses—their lawns dappled with the shade of ambering maples and dusty, bark-peeled sycamores—2009, Jack Wennerstrom, Black Coffee, page 19
   • [T]hough many of the pirates protested against these energetic activities[,] he was only pleasantly tired when the lowering, ambering sun began to bounce needles of gold glare off the waves ahead;2011, Tim Powers, On Stranger Tides

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Amber

UK/ˈæm.bə/US/ˈæm.bɚ/

Amber

1. A female given name from English, popular in the 1980s and the 1990s.
   • The youngest daughter of the Marchioness of Summerdown had one of these quaint, pretty names - Amber! - and what a pretty creature she was!1854 Harper's Magazine, Volume IX, June to November 1854, page 667 ("Lady Amber Mayne")
   • And then she said softly, "Sarah - I think I'll name her Amber - for the colour of her father's eyes - "1944, Kathleen Winsor, Forever Amber, Chicago Review Press, published 2000, →ISBN, page 14
2. A surname of uncertain origin.
   • Amber, the half, generally waltzed round our forwards, and when he secured he passed the ball on to Aspinall.1901, Frederick Swainson, Acton's Feud: A Public School Story, BiblioBazaar, LLC, published 2007, →ISBN, page 14

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Amber

UK/ˈæm.bə/US/ˈæm.bɚ/

Amber

1. A male given name from Hindi.
2. A city in Rajasthan, India, also known as Amer.

Proper noun (3) capitalized: Amber

UK/ˈæm.bə/US/ˈæm.bɚ/

Amber

1. A river in Derbyshire, England, which joins the River Derwent at Ambergate.

Proper noun (4) capitalized: Amber

UK/ˈæm.bə/US/ˈæm.bɚ/

Amber

1. Synonym of Ambel (“language”).

   Synonyms:

   Ambel