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amber: amber: [14] Amber was borrowed, via Old French, from Arabic ‘anbar, which originally meant ‘ambergris’ (and in fact until the early 18th century amber was used for ‘ambergris’ too). A perceived resemblance between the two substances had already led in Arabic to ‘amber’ ousting ‘ambergris’ as the main meaning of ‘anbar, and this was reflected as soon as English acquired it.

In Scotland until as recently as the early 19th century lamber was the usual form. This arose from borrowing the French word for ‘amber’ complete with its definite article le: l’ambre. Before the introduction of the Arabic term into European languages, the ancestor of modern English glass appears to have been the word used for ‘amber’.
=> ambergris
ambergris: ambergris: [15] The original term for ambergris (a waxy material from the stomach of the sperm whale) was amber. But as confusion began to arise between the two substances amber and ambergris, amber came to be used for both in all the languages that had borrowed it from Arabic, thus compounding the bewilderment. The French solution was to differentiate ambergris as ambre gris, literally ‘grey amber’, and this eventually became the standard English term. (Later on, the contrastive term ambre jaune ‘yellow amber’ was coined for ‘amber’ in French.) Uncertainty over the identity of the second element, -gris, has led to some fanciful reformulations of the word.

In the 17th century, many people thought ambergris came from Greece – hence spellings such as amber-degrece and amber-greece. And until comparatively recently its somewhat greasy consistency encouraged the spelling ambergrease.
=> amber
chamber: chamber: [13] The ultimate source of chamber is Greek kamárā ‘something with an arched cover, room with a vaulted roof’. This passed into Latin as camara or camera (source of English camera), and in Old French became transformed into chambre, the immediate source of the English word. Related forms in English include comrade (from Spanish camarada), originally ‘someone sharing a room’; chamberlain [13], which was originally coined in the West Germanic language of the Franks as *kamerling using the diminutive suffix -ling, and came into English via Old French chamberlenc; and chimney.
=> camera, chamberlain, chimney
lambent: lambent: see lap
amber (n.): mid-14c., "ambergris, perfume made from ambergris," from Old French ambre, from Medieval Latin ambar "ambergris," from Arabic 'anbar "ambergris." In Europe, the sense was extended, inexplicably, to fossil resins from the Baltic (late 13c. in Anglo-Latin; c. 1400 in English), which has become the main sense as the use of ambergris has waned. This formerly was known as white or yellow amber to distinguish it from ambergris, which word entered English early 15c. from French, which distinguished the two substances as ambre gris and amber jaune. The classical word for Baltic amber was electrum (compare electric).
ambergris (n.): early 15c., from Middle French ambre gris "gray amber" (see amber), "a wax-like substance of ashy colour, found floating in tropical seas, a morbid secretion from the intestines of the sperm-whale. Used in perfumery, and formerly in cookery" [OED]. Its origin was a mystery in Johnson's day, and he records nine different theories. King Charles II's favorite dish was said to be eggs and ambergris [Macauley, "History of England"]. French gris is from Frankish *gris or some other Germanic source (cognates: Dutch grijs, Old High German gris; see gray (adj.)).
Praise is like ambergris; a little whiff of it, by snatches, is very agreeable; but when a man holds a whole lump of it to his nose, it is a stink and strikes you down. [Pope, c. 1720]
antechamber (n.): 1650s, from French antichambre (16c.), on analogy of Italian anticamera (see ante and chamber).
bedchamber (n.): also bed-chamber, mid-14c., from bed (n.) + chamber.
camber (n.): 1610s, nautical term, from Old French cambre, chambre "bent," from Latin camurum (nominative camur) "crooked, arched;" related to camera.
chamber (n.): c. 1200, "room," usually a private one, from Old French chambre "room, chamber, apartment," also used in combinations to form words for "latrine, privy" (11c.), from Late Latin camera "a chamber, room" (see camera). In anatomy from late 14c.; of machinery from 1769. Gunnery sense is from 1620s. Meaning "legislative body" is from c. 1400. Chamber music (1789) was that meant to be performed in private rooms instead of public halls.
chamber (v.): late 14c., "to restrain," also "to furnish with a chamber" (inplied in chambered, from chamber (n.). Related: Chambering.
chamber-lye (n.): "urine used as a detergent," 1570s, from chamber (n.) in the "privy" sense + lye.
chamber-pot (n.): also chamberpot, 1560s, from chamber (n.) + pot (n.1).
chambered (adj.): late 14c., past participle adjective from chamber (v.).
chamberlain (n.): early 13c., from Old French chamberlenc "chamberlain, steward, treasurer" (Modern French chambellan), from a Germanic source (perhaps Frankish *kamerling; compare Old High German chamarling, German Kämmerling), from Latin camera "chamber, room" (see camera) + Germanic diminutive suffix -ling.
chambermaid (n.): 1580s, from chamber + maid.
clamber (v.): "to climb with difficulty using hands and feet," late 14c., possibly frequentative of Middle English climben "to climb" (preterit clamb), or akin to Old Norse klembra "to hook (oneself) on." Related: Clambered; clambering.
flambe (adj.): 1869, of certain types of porcelain, 1914 as a term in cookery, from French flambé, past participle of flamber "to singe, blaze" (16c.), from Old French flambe "a flame" (see flamboyant). Middle English had flame (v.) in cookery sense "baste (a roast) with hot grease, to baste; to glaze (pastry)."
flambeau (n.): also flambeaux, 1630s, "flaming torch," from French flambeau (14c.), from flambe "flame" (see flamboyant). By 1883 as "a large, decorative candlestick."
lambency (n.): 1817, from lambent + -cy.
lambent (adj.): 1640s, from figurative use of Latin lambentem (nominative lambens), present participle of lambere "to lick," from PIE root *lab-, indicative of smacking lips or licking (cognates: Greek laptein "to sip, lick," Old English lapian "to lick, lap up, suck;" see lap (v.1)).
Lambert: masc. proper name, from French, from German Lambert, from Old High German Lambreht, from lant "land" + beraht "bright." Old English cognate was Landbeorht. The popularity of the name from 12c. is probably due to immigration from Flanders, where St. Lambert of Maestricht was highly venerated. Attested as a surname from mid-12c.
Lambeth: used metonymically for "Church of England, Archbishop of Canterbury," 1859, from the archbishop's palace in Lambeth, a South London borough. The Lambeth Walk was a Cockney song and dance, popularized in Britain 1937 in the revue "Me and my Gal," named for a street in the borough. The place name is Old English lambehyðe, "place where lambs are embarked or landed."
Star Chamber (n.): late 14c., apartment in the royal palace at Westminster in which members of the king's council sat to exercise jurisdiction 14-15c., it evolved 15c. into a court of criminal jurisdiction, infamous under James I and Charles I for arbitrary and oppressive proceedings. Abolished 1641. Supposedly so called because gilt stars had been painted on the ceiling. Later there was a star on the door.