Theophrastus discussed amber in the 4th century BCE, as did Pytheas (c. 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. According to myth, when Phaëton son of Helios (the Sun) was killed, his mourning sisters became poplar trees, and their tears became elektron, amber. The classical names for amber, Latin electrum and Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον ( ēlektron), are connected to a term ἠλέκτωρ ( ēlektōr) meaning "beaming Sun". Ambergris is less dense than water and floats, whereas amber is too dense to float, though less dense than stone. The two substances ("yellow amber" and "grey amber") conceivably became associated or confused because they both were found washed up on beaches. As the use of ambergris waned, this became the main sense of the word. At first called white or yellow amber ( ambre jaune), this meaning was adopted in English by the early 15th century. In the Romance languages, the sense of the word had come to be extended to Baltic amber (fossil resin) from as early as the late 13th century. The word was adopted in Middle English in the 14th century as referring to what is now known as ambergris ( ambre gris or "grey amber"), a solid waxy substance derived from the sperm whale.
The English word amber derives from Arabic ʿanbar عنبر (ultimately from Middle Persian ambar ) via Middle Latin ambar and Middle French ambre.
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