AMBERGRIS

AMBERGRIS is an ashy-coloured, odorous, and waxlike substance found floating in tropical seas. It is used in perfumery, presumed to be a morbid fragment of the intestines of the spermaceti whale, being often found floating on the ocean which it frequents.

The word is formed by joining two word 'ambre' and 'gris' (gray) from the Old French. It, thus means 'gray amber' which is distinct from 'yellow amber', the original amber resin.