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ermine - 5 dictionary results
er⋅mine
[ur-min] 
noun, plural -mines, (especially collectively
) -mine, adjective –noun
| 1. | an Old World weasel, Mustela erminea, having in its winter color phase a white coat with black at the tip of the tail. Compare stoat. |
| 2. | any of various weasels having a white winter coat. |
| 3. | the lustrous, white, winter fur of the ermine, often having fur from the animal's black tail tip inserted at intervals for contrast. |
| 4. | the rank, position, or status of a king, peer, or judge, esp. one in certain European countries who wears, or formerly wore, a robe trimmed with ermine, as on official or state occasions. |
| 5. | Heraldry. a fur, consisting of a conventional representation of tails, often with a pattern of dots, sable on argent. |
–adjective
| 6. | made of, covered, or adorned with ermine. |
Origin:
1150–1200; ME < OF (h)ermine, n. use of fem. of (h)ermin (masc. adj.) < L Armenius, short for Armenius (mūs) Armenian (rat)
1150–1200; ME < OF (h)ermine, n. use of fem. of (h)ermin (masc. adj.) < L Armenius, short for Armenius (mūs) Armenian (rat)
Related forms:
ermined, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To ermine
| er·mine (ûr'mĭn) n.
[Middle English ermin, from Old French ermine, possibly of Germanic origin or from Medieval Latin (mūs) Armenius, Armenian (mouse).] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Ermine
Er"mine\, n. [OF. ermine, F. hermine, prob. of German origin; cf. OHG. harmo, G. hermelin, akin to Lith. szarm?, szarmonys, weasel, cf. AS. hearma; but cf. also LL. armelinus, armellina, hermellina, and pellis Armenia, the fur of the Armenian rat, mus Armenius, the animal being found also in Armenia.]1. (Zo["o]l.) A valuable fur-bearing animal of the genus Mustela (M. erminea), allied to the weasel; the stoat. It is found in the northern parts of Asia, Europe, and America. In summer it is brown, but in winter it becomes white, except the tip of the tail, which is always black. 2. The fur of the ermine, as prepared for ornamenting garments of royalty, etc., by having the tips of the tails, which are black, arranged at regular intervals throughout the white. 3. By metonymy, the office or functions of a judge, whose state robe, lined with ermine, is emblematical of purity and honor without stain. --Chatham. 4. (Her.) One of the furs. See Fur (Her.) Note: Ermine is represented by an argent field, tufted with black. Ermines is the reverse of ermine, being black, spotted or timbered with argent. Erminois is the same as ermine, except that or is substituted for argent. Ermine moth (Zo["o]l.), a white moth with black spots (esp. Yponomeuta padella of Europe); -- so called on account of the resemblance of its covering to the fur of the ermine; also applied to certain white bombycid moths of America.Ermine
Er"mine\, v. t. To clothe with, or as with, ermine. The snows that have ermined it in the winter. --Lowell.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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ermine
c.1175, from O.Fr. hermine, both the animal and the fur, apparently from a convergence of L. (mus) Armenius "Armenian (mouse)," ermines being abundant in Asia Minor; and an unrelated Gmc. word for "weasel" (cf. O.H.G. harmo "ermine, stoat, weasel," adj. harmin; O.Saxon harmo, O.E. hearma, etc.) that happened to sound like it.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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