Hermelin

See also: hermelin

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɛʁməˈliːn/

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Etymology

Borrowed from Middle High German hermelîn (or from some non-standard dialect which preserved this state) from Old High German harmilī from Old High German harmo (“ermine”) from Proto-Germanic *harmô and possibly contaminated with Italian ermellino, armellino related to Medieval Latin Armenius mūs, or else see the inherited words Holunder, Wacholder, lebendig for irregular stress change. There exists in German as well an unambiguously inherited form Härmlein. Cognates outside Germanic only in Latvian sermulis and Lithuanian šarmuõ, šermuõ.

Noun

Hermelin n (genitive Hermelins, plural Hermeline)

1. ermine (Mustela erminea)
2. (heraldry) ermine

Noun

Hermelin m (genitive Hermelins, plural Hermeline)

1. ermine (white fur of the ermine)
2. (moth of the Noctuidae family)

Synonyms

• (Trichosea ludifica): gelber Hermelin

References

• “Hermelin” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• Friedrich Kluge (1883) “Hermelin”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891
• “Hermelin” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.