The English word amber derives from the Arabic word  (; ultimately from Middle Persian ambar, also ambergris), via Middle Latin ambar and Middle French ambre. The word "amber", in its sense of "ambergris", was adopted in Middle English in the 14th century.
The word "ambergris" comes from the Old French ambre gris or "grey amber". The addition of "grey" came about when, in the Romance languages, the sense of the word "amber" was extended to Baltic amber (fossil resin), as white or yellow amber (ambre jaune), from as early as the late 13th century. This fossilized resin subsequently became the dominant (and now exclusive) sense of "amber", leaving "ambergris" as the word for the whale secretion.
The archaic alternate spelling "ambergrease" arose as an eggcorn from the phonetic pronunciation of "ambergris," encouraged by the substance's waxy texture.