琥珀，是一种透明的生物化石，是距今4500—9900万年前的松柏科、豆科、南洋杉科等植物的树脂滴落，掩埋在地下千万年，在压力和热力的作用下石化形成，有的内部包有蜜蜂等小昆虫，奇丽异常，故又被称为“松脂化石”。琥珀的形状多种多样，表面常保留着当初树脂流动时产生的纹路，内部经常可见气泡及古老昆虫、动物或植物碎屑。
常见琥珀种类：昆虫琥珀，金珀，金蓝珀，绿茶珀，红茶珀，血珀，翳珀、花珀、棕红珀，蓝珀，绿珀，虫珀，蜜蜡，珀根，缅甸根珀等。
在国外琥珀和蜜蜡只有一个名字，就是 Amber，琥珀蜜蜡英文单词是Amber。另外也有一些修饰词，比如，ButterscotchAmber
琥珀蜜蜡英语介绍
Amberisfossilizedtreeresin,whichhasbeenappreciatedforitscolorandnaturalbeautysinceNeolithictimes.Muchvaluedfromantiquitytothepresentasagemstone,amberismadeintoavarietyofdecorativeobjects.Amberisusedinjewelry.Ithasalsobeenusedasahealingagentinfolkmedicine.
Therearefiveclassesofamber,definedonthebasisoftheirchemicalconstituents.Becauseitoriginatesasasoft,stickytreeresin,ambersometimescontainsanimalandplantmaterialasinclusions.Amberoccurringincoalseamsisalsocalledresinite,andthetermambriteisappliedtothatfoundspecificallywithinNewZealandcoalseams.
TheEnglishwordamberderivesfromArabicʿanbarعنبر(cognatewithMiddlePersianambar)viaMiddleLatinambarandMiddleFrenchambre.ThewordwasadoptedinMiddleEnglishinthe14thcenturyasreferringtowhatisnowknownasambergris(ambregrisor"greyamber"),asolidwaxysubstancederivedfromthespermwhale.IntheRomancelanguages,thesenseofthewordhadcometobeextendedtoBalticamber(fossilresin)fromasearlyasthelate13thcentury.Atfirstcalledwhiteoryellowamber(ambrejaune),thismeaningwasadoptedinEnglishbytheearly15thcentury.Astheuseofambergriswaned,thisbecamethemainsenseoftheword.
Thetwosubstances("yellowamber"and"greyamber")conceivablybecameassociatedorconfusedbecausetheybothwerefoundwasheduponbeaches.Ambergrisislessdensethanwaterandfloats,whereasamberistoodensetofloat,thoughlessdensethanstone.
Theclassicalnamesforamber,LatinelectrumandAncientGreekἤλεκτρον(ēlektron),areconnectedtoatermἠλέκτωρ(ēlektōr)meaning"beamingSun".Accordingtomyth,whenPhaëtonsonofHelios(theSun)waskilled,hismourningsistersbecamepoplartrees,andtheirtearsbecameelektron,amber.
