ambergris
/ˈæm.bɚ.ɡɹɪs/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.15 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull gray to blackish color, formed within the intestines of the sperm whale and used in the production of perfumes.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Your onely way to make a good pomander, is this. Take an ownce of the pureſt garden mould, clenſed and ſteeped ſeauen daies in change of motherleſſe roſe water, then take the beſt Labdanum, Benioine, both Storaxes, amber greece, and Ciuet, and muſke, incorporate them together, and work them into what form you pleaſe; this, if your breath bee not to valiant, will make you ſmell as ſweete as my Ladies dogge."
- "And as for the other whale, why, I’ll agree to get more oil by chopping up and trying out these three masts of ours, than he’ll get from that bundle of bones; though, now that I think of it, it may contain something worth a good deal more than oil; yes, ambergris."
- "His dress was as it had been described, except that as he approached, Don Quixote saw a torn leather jerkin he was wearing had been tanned by ambergris, which led him to conclude that a person who wore such clothing could not be of low category."
Etymology
From Old French ambre gris (“grey amber”). Though the term was initially spaced as two words, single-word forms predominated by the 19th century. In the 17th century, folk etymologies interpreting the term as amber grease or amber [of] Greece enjoyed some popularity.
Origin
- Source language: Old French
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈæm.bɚ.ɡɹɪs/
- British English: /ˈæm.bə.ɡɹɪs/
Usage
Inflected Forms
ambergrises (plural)
amber-gris (alternative)
amber gris (alternative)
ambergreece (alternative)
amber-greece (alternative)
amber greece (alternative)
ambergrease (alternative)
amber-grease (alternative)
amber grease (alternative)
ambergreese (alternative)
amber-greese (alternative)
ambergrise (alternative)