Editing Amber (section)

==Etymology==
The English word ''amber'' derives from [[Arabic]] {{lang|ar-Latn|ʿanbar}} {{lang|ar|عنبر|rtl=yes}}<ref name="Harper-2022">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=amber |encyclopedia=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]] |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/amber |date=18 September 2022 |editor-last=Harper |editor-first=Douglas}}</ref> via [[Medieval Latin|Middle Latin]] ''ambar'' and [[Middle French]] ''ambre''. The word referred to what is now known as ''[[ambergris]]'' (''ambre gris'' or "gray amber"), a solid waxy substance derived from the [[sperm whale]]. The word, in its sense of "ambergris," was adopted in [[Middle English]] in the 14th century.<ref>{{Citation |title=Middle English Compendium |date=2024-03-10 |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-english-dictionary/dictionary/MED3030 |publisher=University of Michigan}}</ref>

In the [[Romance languages]], the sense of the word was extended to [[Baltic amber]] (fossil resin) from as early as the late 13th century.<ref>{{Cite web |last=austin |date=2018-04-17 |title=Amber History |url=https://amberinternational.net/amber-history/ |access-date=2024-04-22 |website=Amber International |language=en-US}}</ref> At first called white or yellow amber (''ambre jaune''), this meaning was adopted in English by the early 15th century. As the use of ambergris waned, this became the main sense of the word.<ref name="Harper-2022" />{{better source needed|date=August 2020}}

The two substances ("yellow amber" and "gray amber") conceivably became associated or confused because they both were found washed up on beaches. Ambergris is less dense than water and floats, whereas amber is denser and floats only in concentrated saline, or strong salty seawater though less dense than stone.<ref>see: Abu Zaid al Hassan from Siraf & Sulaiman the Merchant (851), ''Silsilat-al-Tawarikh (travels in Asia)''.{{clarify|date=September 2013}}<!--"see" this for what? what is this substantiating?--></ref>

The classical names for amber, [[Ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|[[:wikt:ἤλεκτρον#Ancient Greek|ἤλεκτρον]]}} (''ēlektron'') and one of its [[Latin]] names, ''electrum,''{{refn|group=lower-alpha|In Latin the name ''succinum'' was unambiguously used for amber while ''[[electrum]]'' was also used for an alloy of gold and silver.{{refn|{{Cite web |title=LacusCurtius • Electrum and Amber (Smith's Dictionary, 1875) |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Electrum.html |access-date=2024-12-07 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}}}}} are connected to a term ἠλέκτωρ (''ēlektōr'') meaning "beaming Sun".<ref name=King1>
[[Homeric Greek|Homeric]] ([[Iliad]] 6.513, 19.398). The feminine {{lang|grc|ἠλεκτρίς}} being later used as a name of the [[Moon]].
{{Cite book|last = King|first = Rev. C.W.|title = The Natural History of Gems or Decorative Stones|publisher = Cambridge (UK)|year = 1867|page = 315|url = http://www.farlang.com/gemstones/king-gems-decorative-stones/page_315|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929090553/http://www.farlang.com/gemstones/king-gems-decorative-stones/page_315|archive-date = 29 September 2007}}</ref><ref>The derivation of the modern term  "[[electricity|electric]]"  from the Greek word for amber dates to the 1600 ([[Neo-Latin|Latin]] ''electricus'' "amber-like", in ''De Magnete'' by [[William Gilbert (astronomer)|William Gilbert]]). {{Cite book|last = Heilbron|first = J.L.|title = Electricity in the 17th and 18th Centuries: A Study of Early Modern Physics|publisher = University of California Press|year = 1979|page = 169|isbn = 978-0-520-03478-5|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UlTLRUn1sy8C&pg=PA169}}.
The word  "[[electron]]"  (for the fundamental particle) was coined in 1891 by the Irish physicist [[George Johnstone Stoney|George Stoney]] whilst analyzing elementary charges for the first time. {{cite web|url = http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/amber/amber.htm|author = Aber, Susie Ward|publisher = Emporia State University|title = Welcome to the World of Amber|access-date = 11 May 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070428124042/http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/amber/amber.htm|archive-date = 28 April 2007|url-status = dead}}.</ref> According to myth, when [[Phaethon|Phaëton]], son of [[Helios]] (the Sun) was killed, his mourning sisters became [[Populus|poplar]] trees, and their tears became ''elektron'', amber.<ref>Michael R. Collings, ''Gemlore: An Introduction to Precious and Semi-Precious Stones'', 2009, p. 20</ref> The word ''elektron'' gave rise to the words ''electric, electricity'', and their relatives because of amber's ability to bear a charge of [[static electricity]].<ref name="electric">[https://www.etymonline.com/word/electric "Electric." ''Online Etymological Dictionary.''] Retrieved 6 September 2018.</ref>

===Varietal names===
A number of regional and varietal names have been applied to ambers over the centuries, including '''allingite''', '''beckerite''', '''gedanite''', '''kochenite''', '''krantzite''', and '''stantienite'''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mindat.org/min-188.html |title=Amber |publisher=Mindat.org |access-date=August 9, 2024}}</ref>