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amber - 11 dictionary results

am⋅ber

  [am-ber]
Use amber in a Sentence
–noun
1. a pale yellow, sometimes reddish or brownish, fossil resin of vegetable origin, translucent, brittle, and capable of gaining a negative electrical charge by friction and of being an excellent insulator: used for making jewelry and other ornamental articles.
2. the yellowish-brown color of resin.
–adjective
3. of the color of amber; yellowish-brown: amber fields of grain.
4. made of amber: amber earrings.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME ambre < OF < ML ambra < Ar ʿanbar ambergris; confusion of the dissimilar substances perh. because both were rare, valuable, and found on seacoasts

Related forms:
am⋅ber⋅like, am⋅ber⋅y, am⋅ber⋅ous, adjective

Am⋅ber

  [am-ber]
–noun
a female given name.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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am·ber   (ām'bər)   
n.  
  1. A hard translucent yellow, orange, or brownish-yellow fossil resin, used for making jewelry and other ornamental objects.
  2. A brownish yellow.
adj.  
  1. Having the color of amber; brownish-yellow.
  2. Made of or resembling amber: an amber necklace.

[Middle English ambre, from Old French, from Medieval Latin ambra, ambar, from Arabic 'anbar, ambergris, amber.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Amber

Am"ber\, n. [OE. aumbre, F. ambre, Sp. ['a]mbar, and with the Ar. article, al['a]mbar, fr. Ar. 'anbar ambergris.]

1. (Min.) A yellowish translucent resin resembling copal, found as a fossil in alluvial soils, with beds of lignite, or on the seashore in many places. It takes a fine polish, and is used for pipe mouthpieces, beads, etc., and as a basis for a fine varnish. By friction, it becomes strongly electric.

2. Amber color, or anything amber-colored; a clear light yellow; as, the amber of the sky.

3. Ambergris. [Obs.]

You that smell of amber at my charge. --Beau. & Fl.

4. The balsam, liquidambar.

Black amber, and old and popular name for jet.

Amber

Am"ber\, a. 1. Consisting of amber; made of amber. "Amber bracelets." --Shak.

2. Resembling amber, especially in color; amber-colored. "The amber morn." --Tennyson.

Amber

Am"ber\, v. t. [p. p. & p. a. Ambered .]

1. To scent or flavor with ambergris; as, ambered wine.

2. To preserve in amber; as, an ambered fly.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : amber
Spanish: ámbar,
German: der Bernstein,
Japanese: こはく
More Translations »

amber 
1365, "ambergris," from O.Fr. ambre, from M.L. ambar, from Arabic 'anbar "amber," a word brought home to Europe by the Crusaders. The sense was extended to fossil resin c.1400, which has become the main sense as the use of ambergris has waned. This was formerly known as white or yellow amber. In Fr., they are distinguished as ambre gris and amber jaune. Cf. also electric.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: am·ber
Pronunciation: 'am-b&r
Function: noun
: a hard yellowish to brownish translucent fossil resin that takes a fine polish and isused chiefly in making ornamental objects (as beads) —amber adjective
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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amber   (ām'bər)  Pronunciation Key 


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A hard, translucent, brownish-yellow substance that is the fossilized resin of ancient trees. It often contains fossil insects.

Our Living Language  : Certain trees, especially conifers, produce a sticky substance called resin to protect themselves against insects. Normally, it decays in oxygen through the action of bacteria. However, if the resin happens to fall into wet mud or sand containing little oxygen, it can harden and eventually fossilize, becoming the yellowish, translucent substance known as amber. If any insects or other organisms are trapped in the resin before it hardens, they can be preserved, often in exquisite detail. By studying these preserved organisms, scientists are able learn key facts about life on Earth millions of years ago.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Amber language
1. A functional programming language which adds CSP-like concurrency, multiple inheritance and persistence to ML and generalises its type system. It is similar to Galileo. Programs must be written in two type faces, roman and italics! It has both static types and dynamic types.
There is an implementation for Macintosh.
["Amber", L. Cardelli, TR Bell Labs, 1984].
2. An object-oriented distributed language based on a subset of C++, developed at Washington University in the late 1980s.
(1994-12-08)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Amber

(Ezek. 1:4, 27; 8:2. Heb., hashmal, rendered by the LXX. elektron, and by the Vulgate electrum), a metal compounded of silver and gold. Some translate the word by "polished brass," others "fine brass," as in Rev. 1:15; 2:18. It was probably the mixture now called electrum. The word has no connection, however, with what is now called amber, which is a gummy substance, reckoned as belonging to the mineral kingdom though of vegetable origin, a fossil resin.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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