an Old World weasellike mammal, Mustela zibellina, of cold regions in Eurasia and the North Pacific Islands, valued for its dark brown fur.
a marten, especially Mustela americana.
the fur of the sable.
the color black, often being one of the heraldic colors.
sables, mourning garments.
of the heraldic color sable.
made of the fur or hair of the sable.
very dark; black.
a marten, Martes zibellina, of N Asian forests, with dark brown luxuriant fur
the highly valued fur of this animal
( as modifier )
a sable coat
the brown, slightly less valuable fur of the American marten, Martes americana
the colour of sable fur: a dark brown to yellowish-brown colour
of the colour of sable fur
black; dark; gloomy
(usually postpositive) heraldry of the colour black
a cape at the S tip of Florida: the southernmost point of continental US
the southernmost point of Nova Scotia, Canada
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English sable, saibel, sabil(le) “a sable, pelt of a sable; (the color) black,” from Old French sable, saibile “a sable, sable fur” ( Medieval Latin sabel(l)um “sable fur”), from Middle Low German sabel (compare late Old High German zobel ), from Slavic or Baltic; compare Russian sóbol', Polish soból, Czech sobol, Lithuanian sàbalas; further origin uncertain
Sable is a fluffy little animal known for its silky dark brown fur. It’s native to Japan, Siberia, and other parts of northern Asia. You may meet up with a sable in a zoo or as somebody's expensive coat. Sable is a kind of marten — the same family as skunks, wolverines, and minks. The scientific name is Martes zibellina. The word sable, from Russian, likely came into Western European languages in the Middle Ages, when trappers traveled far and wide in search of furry creatures whose skins were worthy to warm the backs of emperors, kings, queens, and Byzantine priests. Sable can also mean "dark black," or it can refer to the hairs of an artist's paintbrush.
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In contrast, some parts of the tarantula feel almost like sable fur.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2025
The cookbook offers helpful guides to the different varieties of herring—from New Catch to schmaltz—smoked salmon and specialty fish such as sturgeon and sable and caviar.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025
The four largest herbivores wearing GPS collars -- nyala, kudu, sable and elephant -- had no fatalities.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 17, 2023
One of the ferrets is described as a sable polecat ferret, and the other is a silver ferret.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2023
A few feet away there's a magnificent-looking horse with a shiny, sable coat.
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
Monday’s filing is just the latest legal entanglement to involve Sable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
The Trump administration also used the Defense Production Act, a Cold War-era law allowing presidents to speed up the flow of goods in emergencies, to allow oil producer Sable Offshore to restart an offshore pipeline.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026
Sandra Sable, a financial planner who specializes in high-net-worth women clients in Boston, says when new clients come to her, they are often holding far too much of their money in cash.
From MarketWatch ● May 8, 2026
Sable finds people are often more comfortable committing funds to long-term growth once they know their bases are covered with more stable investments.
From MarketWatch ● May 8, 2026
“Deep Lake, Sable Hall, and the Long Barrow. All garrisoned with free folk, under the command of our own officers. The Long Barrow will be all women, aside from the commander and chief steward.”
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
That means baking British-style biscuits — lemon sugar sables, almond orange pillows and ginger molasses cookies — plus slabs of chocolate cake and fluffy ricotta cake topped with her own strawberry compote.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 3, 2022
It contains nearly 20 percent of the world’s unfrozen fresh water and is so abundant in wildlife — bears, foxes, sables, rare and endangered freshwater seals — that Unesco calls it “the Galápagos of Russia.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 8, 2019
The station had its drawers and checklists: there were sorbets to spin and sables to bake off, pears to poach and oranges to carve into supremes.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2018
As the numbers of sables and Siberians inevitably dwindled, eighteenth-century Russians ventured into the north Pacific for fresh sources.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018
This is also of the marten species and has been frequently offered, when dyed dark, as have baum and stone martens, as Russian sables.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 "Frost" to "Fyzabad" by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
