Arabic for 'ambergris' (whale substance), shifted in English to mean fossilized resin — and Greek 'elektron' (amber) gave us 'electricity.'
A hard, translucent, yellowish-brown fossilized tree resin, used in jewelry and decoration, capable of being electrostatically charged by rubbing.
From Middle English 'ambre,' from Old French 'ambre,' from Medieval Latin 'ambra,' from Arabic 'ʿanbar' (عنبر, ambergris). Originally, the word referred to ambergris — the waxy substance from sperm whales used in perfumery — not to the fossilized resin. The amber resin was distinguished as 'amber gris' (grey amber) vs. 'amber jaune' (yellow