fitchew

British  

/ ˈfɪtʃuː /

noun

1. an archaic name for polecat

---

Etymology

Origin of fitchew

C14 ficheux , from Old French ficheau , from Middle Dutch vitsau , of obscure origin

Example Sentences

The polecat survives as Fitch, Fitchett, and Fitchew— "Fissau, a filch, or fulmart."

From Project Gutenberg

Often, of course, and especially in the talk of Edgar as the Bedlam, they have no symbolical meaning; but not seldom, even in his talk, they are expressly referred to for their typical qualities—'hog in sloth, fox in stealth, wolf in greediness, dog in madness, lion in prey,' 'The fitchew nor the soiled horse goes to't With a more riotous appetite.'

From Project Gutenberg

A man overtook her whom she recognised at once as Fitchew the jobbing gardener, porter, rough carpenter, creature of all work in Cowfold, one of the honestest souls in the place.

From Project Gutenberg

An old parson always maintained that the name was originally Fitz-Hugh, but this particular representative of the family was certainly not a Fitz-Hugh but a Fitchew, save that he was as independent as a baron, and, notwithstanding his poverty, cared little or nothing what people thought about him.

From Project Gutenberg

Of the arguments for Christianity, of the undesigned coincidences in the Bible, of the evidence from prophecy, of the metaphysical necessity for an incarnation and atonement, he knew nothing, and it was a marvel to all respectable young persons how Fitchew, whose ignorance would disgrace a charity child, and who did not know that the world was round, or the date of the battle of Hastings, should set himself up against those who were so superior to him.

From Project Gutenberg