marten

[ mahr-tn ]

noun,plural mar·tens, (especially collectively) mar·ten.
  1. any of several slender, chiefly arboreal carnivores of the genus Martes, of northern forests, having a long, glossy coat and bushy tail.

  2. the fur of such an animal, generally a dark brown.

Origin of marten

1
1375–1425; <Middle Low German, equivalent to mart marten (cognate with Old English mearth) + -en-en5; replacing late Middle English martren<Middle French martrine marten fur, noun use of feminine of martrin pertaining to a marten, equivalent to martre marten (<Germanic; compare German Marder) + -in-in1

Words Nearby marten

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use marten in a sentence

  • When recounting her trip to her friend Glen (marten Holder Weiner), Sally summed up her visit to Manhattan in one word: “Dirty.”

  • Small Bright Brown—dubbed with camel's hair, and marten's yellow fur mixed, wings pale feather of a starling.

    The Teesdale Angler | R Lakeland
  • The marten makes a nest of moss, grass and leaves, in a hollow tree or log or among rocks.

    Muskrat City | Henry Abbott
  • In the woods his food is similar to that of the marten, although he cannot climb a tree to capture his prey.

    Muskrat City | Henry Abbott
  • Cocking his head on one side, the marten regarded the swaying nest critically out of his bright black eyes.

    Wild Folk | Samuel Scoville
  • With a flying leap, the marten reached the spruce and flashed up the trunk, with never a look behind.

    Wild Folk | Samuel Scoville

British Dictionary definitions for marten

marten

/ (ˈmɑːtɪn) /


nounplural -tens or -ten
  1. any of several agile arboreal musteline mammals of the genus Martes, of Europe, Asia, and North America, having bushy tails and golden brown to blackish fur: See also pine marten

  2. the highly valued fur of these animals, esp that of M. americana

Origin of marten

1
C15: from Middle Dutch martren, from Old French (peau) martrine skin of a marten, from martre, probably of Germanic origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012