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ermine

[ur-min]

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noun, plural er·mines, (especially collectively) er·mine.

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.

any of various weasels having a white winter coat.

the lustrous, white, winter fur of the ermine, often having fur from the animal's black tail tip inserted at intervals for contrast.

the rank, position, or status of a king, peer, or judge, especially one in certain European countries who wears, or formerly wore, a robe trimmed with ermine, as on official or state occasions.

Heraldry. a fur, consisting of a conventional representation of tails, often with a pattern of dots, sable on argent.

adjective

made of, covered, or adorned with ermine.

Origin of ermine

1150–1200; Middle English < Old French (h)ermine, noun use of feminine of (h)ermin (masculine adj.) < Latin Armenius, short for Armenius (mūs) Armenian (rat)

Related formser·mined, adjectiveun·er·mined, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ermine

Contemporary Examples of ermine

The Countess deftly steered the lifeboat, a resolute and unlikely vision in her ermine and pearls.
The Titanic’s Haute Heroine: The Countess of Rothes
Elizabeth Kaye
April 12, 2012
The ermine was also written about by Leonardo as a symbol of her purity.
London’s National Gallery Opens the Exhibition of the Century
Daily Beast Promotions
November 7, 2011
It may be a visual pun on her surname, since the Greek for ermine or stoat is galay.
London’s National Gallery Opens the Exhibition of the Century
Daily Beast Promotions
November 7, 2011

Historical Examples of ermine

Yet prouder was I of this sober apparel than ever king of his ermine.
The Shame of Motley
Raphael Sabatini
Oh, yes, and then the robins like cockatoos and squirrels like a princess's ermine!
The Moon is Green
Fritz Reuter Leiber
And, over all, there hung in graceful folds an ermine robe of spotless white.
The Fiery Totem
Argyll Saxby
Papa's models are all in horse-hair wigs,—fat mummies in ermine!
Roland Cashel
Charles James Lever
I am a Judge, but they shall see that the ermine embarrasses me just as little.
Sir Brook Fossbrooke, Volume II.
Charles James Lever

British Dictionary definitions for ermine

ermine

noun plural -mines or -mine

the stoat in northern regions, where it has a white winter coat with a black-tipped tail

the fur of this animal

one of the two principal furs used on heraldic shields, conventionally represented by a white field flecked with black ermine tailsCompare vair

the dignity or office of a judge, noble, or king

short for ermine moth

Word Origin for ermine

C12: from Old French hermine, from Medieval Latin Armenius (mūs) Armenian (mouse)

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

Word Origin and History for ermine

n.

late 12c., from Old French ermine (12c., Modern French hermine), both the animal and the fur, apparently from a convergence of Latin (mus) Armenius "Armenian (mouse)," ermines being abundant in Asia Minor; and an unrelated Germanic word for "weasel" (cf. Old High German harmo "ermine, stoat, weasel," adj. harmin; Old Saxon harmo, Old English hearma "shrew," etc.) that happened to sound like it.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper