# amber

/ˈæmbɝ/ (US) · /ˈæmbɐ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/amber
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 1. fossilised resin

noun · CEFR B2

a hard, clear, yellow or brown substance that comes from trees that lived millions of years ago.

For teachers: a hard, translucent, fossilised resin produced by extinct coniferous trees, frequently used in jewellery and for preserving prehistoric specimens.

- The museum has a piece of amber with a prehistoric insect trapped inside.
- Palaeontologists value amber highly because it preserves delicate biological structures that are typically lost during the standard fossilisation process.

### 2. traffic light

noun · CEFR B1 · British English

the yellow light in a set of traffic lights that tells drivers to prepare to stop.

For teachers: 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.

- The light turned to amber just as I reached the intersection.
- In many jurisdictions, accelerating when the signal turns amber is a traffic violation if the driver had sufficient time to stop safely.

### 3. colour

adjective · CEFR B2

having a warm, brownish-yellow colour.

For teachers: denoting a specific range of brownish-yellow or orange-yellow colours resembling fossilised resin.

- The cat had beautiful amber eyes that glowed in the dark.
- The late afternoon sun cast an amber glow across the valley, highlighting the autumnal colours of the forest.

### 4. genetic stop codon

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

a specific signal in a genetic code that tells a cell to stop building a protein.

For teachers: the UAG stop codon; a nucleotide triplet that signals the termination of protein translation.

- The scientist identified an amber mutation in the DNA sequence.
- An amber mutation results in a premature stop codon, which typically leads to the production of a truncated and non-functional protein.

### 5. ambergris

noun · CEFR C2 · Archaic

a waxy substance from whales used to make expensive perfumes.

For teachers: a waxy, flammable substance produced in the digestive system of sperm whales, historically used in perfumery.

- Old books sometimes mention amber being used to scent expensive oils.
- In historical texts, the term amber was frequently used to refer to ambergris rather than the fossilised tree resin we recognise today.

## Examples

- She wears a beautiful necklace made of polished amber.
- Scientists discovered a perfectly preserved mosquito inside a piece of amber found in the forest.
- The specimen was encased in amber for millions of years, providing researchers with a rare, three-dimensional view of an extinct insect's delicate wing structure.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.