amber
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a hard, clear, yellow or brown substance that comes from trees that lived millions of years ago.
n.a hard, translucent, fossilised resin produced by extinct coniferous trees, frequently used in jewellery and for preserving prehistoric specimens.
Simple“The museum has a piece of amber with a prehistoric insect trapped inside.”
In context“Palaeontologists value amber highly because it preserves delicate biological structures that are typically lost during the standard fossilisation process.”
- 02 B1 Intermediate
n.the yellow light in a set of traffic lights that tells drivers to prepare to stop.
n.the intermediate yellow-orange signal in a three-colour traffic light system, indicating that a driver should stop unless it is unsafe to do so.
Simple“The light turned to amber just as I reached the intersection.”
In context“In many jurisdictions, accelerating when the signal turns amber is a traffic violation if the driver had sufficient time to stop safely.”
Synonyms - 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
adj.having a warm, brownish-yellow colour.
adj.denoting a specific range of brownish-yellow or orange-yellow colours resembling fossilised resin.
Simple“The cat had beautiful amber eyes that glowed in the dark.”
In context“The late afternoon sun cast an amber glow across the valley, highlighting the autumnal colours of the forest.”
- 04 C2 Proficiency
n.a specific signal in a genetic code that tells a cell to stop building a protein.
n.the UAG stop codon; a nucleotide triplet that signals the termination of protein translation.
Simple“The scientist identified an amber mutation in the DNA sequence.”
In context“An amber mutation results in a premature stop codon, which typically leads to the production of a truncated and non-functional protein.”
Synonymsstop codonUAG - 05 C2 Proficiency
n.a waxy substance from whales used to make expensive perfumes.
n.a waxy, flammable substance produced in the digestive system of sperm whales, historically used in perfumery.
Simple“Old books sometimes mention amber being used to scent expensive oils.”
In context“In historical texts, the term amber was frequently used to refer to ambergris rather than the fossilised tree resin we recognise today.”
Synonymsambergris
“The traffic lights themselves won't be changing, they will still have the traditional red, amber, and green lights, but the way they work at different types of crossings will be different.”
“The museum's collection, which dates back to around 1,000 BC, is mainly gold items, but there are also pieces of silver, iron and amber.”
From amber, from Middle English ambre, from Old French ambre, from Latin ambar, from Arabic عَنْبَر (ʕanbar, “ambergris”).
Borrowed from Hindi अंबर (ambar).
From a pre-Celtic word.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.