ermine

English

Mustela erminea

Etymology

From Middle English ermine, ermin, ermyn, from Old French ermin, ermine, hermine (“ermine”), of Germanic origin, from Frankish *harmo, *harmin- (“ermine, stoat, weasel”), from Proto-Germanic *harmô (“weasel”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerǝm- (“weasel”). Cognate with Old High German harmo (“ermine, stoat, weasel”), Old Dutch harm (“weasel”), Old English hearma (“fieldmouse, dormouse, weasel”). Compare also German Hermelin (“ermine”). More at ermelin.

Note: The supposed derivation from Medieval Latin mūs Armenius (“Armenian mouse”) is without any foundation.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɜːmɪn/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)mɪn

Noun

Wikipedia ermine (plural ermines)

1. A weasel, Mustela erminea, found in northern latitudes; its dark brown fur turns white in winter (apart from the black tip of the tail)
2. The white fur of this animal
3. (poetic) A symbol of purity
4. (figuratively) The office of a judge
5. (heraldry) A white field with black spots

Synonyms

• stoat (British)
• short-tailed weasel
• wild otter

Translations

Mustela erminea

Albanian: ermelina Armenian: կնգում (hy) (kngum), սպիտակ աքիս (hy) (spitak ak’is) Basque: erbinude zuri Belarusian: гарнастай Bosnian: hermelin (bs) m. Breton: erminig Bulgarian: хермелин (bg) (hermelin) m. Catalan: ermini Croatian: zerdav Czech: hranostaj (cs) m. Danish: hermelin (da) c., lækat (da) c. Dutch: hermelijn (nl) m. Esperanto: ermeno Estonian: kärp, lahits, hermeliin Faroese: roysikøttur (fo) Finnish: kärppä (fi) French: hermine (fr) f. Friulian: armelin Galician: armiño German: Hermelin (de) n. Greek: ερμίνα (el) (ermína) f. Hungarian: hermelin (hu) Icelandic: hreysiköttur (is) Irish: easóg Italian: ermellino (it) m. Ladin: armelin Latin: Mustela erminea f. Latvian: sermulis Lithuanian: šermuonėlis (lt)

Lower Sorbian: hermelin Macedonian: хермелин (mk) (hermelín) m., ермелин (mk) (ermelín) m. Maltese: ermellin Navajo: dlǫ́ʼiiłgaii Norwegian: røyskatt (no) Occitan: ermina (oc) f. Polish: gronostaj (pl) m. Portuguese: arminho (pt) m. Romani: ermina f. Romanian: hermelina Romansch: ermelin Russian: горностай (ru) (gornostáj) m. Sami: buoidda Sardinian: ermellinu Scottish Gaelic: neas (gd) f., neas mhòr (gd) f. Serbian: zerdav m. Slovak: lasica hranostaj Slovene: hermelin (sl) Spanish: armiño (es) m. Swedish: hermelin (sv) c. Turkish: as (tr), kakım (tr), ermin (tr) Ukrainian: горностай (uk) (gornostaj) m. Upper Sorbian: hermelin, hronostaj Volapük: (male or female) härmin (vo), (male) hihärmin (vo), (female) jihärmin (vo), (male or female offspring, young) härminül (vo), (male offspring, young) hihärminül (vo), (female offspring, young) jihärminül (vo) Welsh: carlwm West Frisian: harmeling

the white fur of this animal

Bulgarian: хермелин (bg) m. Czech: hranostaj (cs) m. Finnish: kärpännahka, hermeliini

French: hermine (fr) f. German: Hermelin (de) m. Volapük: härminaskin (vo), härminapläd (vo), visafot (vo)

a symbol of purity

the office of a judge

(heraldry) a white field with black spots

Finnish: kärpännahka (fi) French: hermine (fr) f.

German: Hermelin (de) Macedonian: хермелин (mk) (hermelín) m.

Verb

ermine (third-person singular simple present ermines, present participle ermining, simple past and past participle ermined)

1. To clothe with ermine

References

• OED 2nd edition 1989

Anagrams

• emerin

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Old French

Noun

ermine f. (oblique plural ermines, nominative singular ermine, nominative plural ermines)

1. ermine (fabric)

   circa 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:

   La pane fu de blanc ermine