Ambergris

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈæm.bɚ.ɡɹɪs/

Definitions

  1. A waxy substance produced in the digestive system of sperm whales, historically valued for use in perfume and fragrance manufacturing
  2. A grayish waxy secretion from sperm whale intestines used historically in perfumery and as a fixative for scents
  3. A rare whale-derived aromatic substance formed in the digestive tract and prized by perfumers for enhancing fragrance composition and longevity

Etymology: The original amber was not the golden fossil resin at all. It was a lump of grey, waxy matter from the gut of a sperm whale, found floating at sea or stranded on beaches and prized by perfumers. Arabic called it "ʿanbar", and the name passed into medieval Latin as "ambra" and into Old French as "ambre". In Europe the name spread to a second substance: the yellow resin gathered along the shores of the Baltic. The link was perhaps that both were treasures the sea washed up, and both gave off a scent when burned. With one word now covering two very different things, French speakers sorted them by colour. The resin became "ambre jaune", yellow amber, and the whale's product "ambre gris", grey amber. Over time the resin claimed the plain word for itself, and the substance that had owned the name first was left needing an adjective. English borrowed the French phrase in the fifteenth century, and for a long while it was written as two words. In the 1600s many writers misheard it. Some made it "amber grease", which at least suited its fatty texture. Others made it "amber of Greece", which had nothing behind it but sound. By the nineteenth century the single word ambergris had won out. For most of this history, no one knew where the stuff came from. Medieval guesses ranged from sea foam to springs on the ocean floor. Only once whalers began cutting open sperm whales and finding it inside, often studded with the hard beaks of the squid the whales had eaten, was the mystery settled. Herman Melville gave it a chapter of its own in Moby-Dick (1851), relishing the irony that fine ladies perfumed themselves with something dug from the bowels of a sick whale.