ermelin

English

Alternative forms

• ermilin

Etymology

Borrowed from German Hermelin (“ermine”), from Middle High German hermelin, from Old High German harmilī, harmilīn (“weasel”), diminutive of Old High German harmo (“ermine, stoat, weasel”), from Proto-Germanic *harmô (“weasel”). Cognate with Italian ermellino (“ermine”), from the same Germanic source. More at ermine.

Noun

ermelin (plural ermelins)

1. (obsolete) An ermine.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     And on his shield enueloped seuenfold / He bore a crowned litle Ermilin [...].