ermine

English

Ermine, Mustela erminea

Various ways of representing ermine in heraldry.

Etymology

From Middle English ermine, ermin, ermyn, from Old French ermin, ermine, hermine.

There are two main theories for the origin of Old French ermine. Germanic origin is suggested via Old Dutch *harmino (“stoat skin”), from *harmo (“stoat, weasel”) (compare Dutch hermelijn and dialectal herm), from Proto-Germanic *harmǭ, *harmô (compare Old English hearma, Old High German harmo (harmin (adjective), obsolete German Harm), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱormō (compare Romansch carmun, obsolete Lithuanian šarmuõ). Romance sources identify the animal with the corresponding word for Armenian, possibly from Medieval Latin mūs Armenius (“Armenian mouse”) or a posterior compound.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɜːmɪn/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɝmɪn/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)mɪn

Noun

ermine (countable and uncountable, plural ermines or ermine)

1. A weasel found in northern latitudes (Mustela erminea in Eurasia, Alaska, and the Arctic, Mustela haidarum in Haida Gwaii, Mustela richardsonii in the rest of North America); its dark brown fur turns white in winter, apart from the black tip of the tail.
2. The white fur of this animal, traditionally seen as a symbol of purity and used for judges' robes.
3. (by extension, figuratively) The office of a judge.
4. (heraldry) The fur of this animal, used as a heraldic tincture: a white field with a repeating pattern of stylized black spots.
5. Any of various moths, especially in the family Yponomeutidae

Synonyms

• stoat (British)
• short-tailed weasel (American)

Derived terms

• bird-cherry ermine
• counter-ermine
• counterermine
• erminelike
• ermine moth
• erminette
• raise to the ermine

 

Related terms

• erminee

Translations

Mustela erminea, M. richardsonii, M. haidarum

• Albanian: ermelina f, nuselalë e borës f, nuselalë bishtzezë f
• Arabic: قَاقِم m (qāqim)
• Armenian: կնգում (hy) (kngum), սպիտակ աքիս (spitak akʻis), ախազ (hy) (axaz)
• Asturian: mustadiella blanca (ast), papalbina (ast)
• Azerbaijani: qaqum
• Bashkir: аҫ (aś)
• Basque: erbinude zuri
• Belarusian: гарнаста́й m (harnastáj)
• Breton: erminig (br) m
• Bulgarian: хермелин m (hermelin)
• Catalan: ermini (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 白鼬 (zh) (báiyòu)

• Chukchi: эмчьачокаԓгын (ėmčʹačokaḷgyn)
• Czech: hranostaj m
• Danish: hermelin (da) c, lækat (da) c
• Dutch: hermelijn (nl) m
• Esperanto: ermeno
• Estonian: kärp (et), lahits, hermeliin
• Faroese: roysikøttur m
• Finnish: kärppä (fi)
• French: hermine (fr) f
• Friulian: armelin
• Galician: armiño m
• Georgian: ყარყუმი (q̇arq̇umi)
• German: Hermelin (de) n
• Greek: ερμίνα (el) f (ermína)
• Greenlandic: ukaliatsiaq
• Hungarian: hermelin (hu), hölgymenyét (hu)
• Icelandic: hreysiköttur (is) m
• Interlingua: armenio
• Irish: easóg f, cailín bán m, bláthnaid f (female)
• Italian: ermellino (it) m
• Japanese: おこじょ (ja) (okojo)
• Kazakh: ақкіс (aqkıs)
• Kipchak: ախ աս (ax as)
• Komi-Permyak: чужмӧр (ćužmör)
• Komi-Yazva: чужмөр (ćužmår)
• Komi-Zyrian: сьӧдбӧж (śödböž), чужмӧр (ćužmör)
• Korean: 북방족제비 (bukbangjokjebi)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: قاقِم (qaqim), قاقوم (qaqum)

  Northern Kurdish: fisos, ququme

• Ladin: armelin m
• Latin: Mustela erminea f
• Latvian: sermulis m
• Lithuanian: šermuonėlis m
• Macedonian: хермели́н m (hermelín), ермели́н m (ermelín)
• Maltese: ermellin m
• Maori: toriura
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: үен (mn) (üjen)

  Mongolian: ᠦᠶᠡᠩ (üyeng)

• Navajo: dlǫ́ʼiiłgaii
• Norman: b'lette f (Jersey)
• Northern Sami: buoidda
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: røyskatt (no) m

  Nynorsk: røyskatt m, røysekatt m

• Occitan: ermina (oc) f
• Old English: hearma m
• Ottoman Turkish: قاقم (kakım)
• Persian: قاقم (fa) (qâqom)
• Polish: gronostaj (pl) m
• Portuguese: arminho (pt) m
• Romani: ermina f
• Romanian: hermelină (ro) f, hermină (ro) f
• Romansch: ermelin m
• Russian: горноста́й (ru) m (gornostáj)
• Sardinian: ermellinu m
• Scottish Gaelic: neas f, neas mhòr f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: хермѐлӣн m, зѐрда̄в m

  Roman: hermèlīn (sh) m, zèrdāv (sh) m

• Shor: ас (as)
• Skolt Sami: puõiddi
• Slovak: hranostaj (sk) m
• Slovene: hermelin (sl) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: hermelin m

  Upper Sorbian: hermelin m, hronostaj

• Spanish: armiño (es) m
• Swedish: hermelin (sv) c, lekatt (sv) c
• Tagalog: arminyo
• Turkish: as (tr), kakım (tr), ermin (tr)
• Udmurt: ӵӧжмер (čöžmer), сьӧдбыж (śödbyž), тӧдьычайы (töďyćajy)
• Ukrainian: горноста́й (uk) m (hornostáj)
• Volapük: härmin (vo)
• Welsh: carlwm m
• West Frisian: harmeling

the white fur of this animal

• Armenian: ախազ (hy) (axaz)

  Old Armenian: կնգմենի (kngmeni)

• Bulgarian: хермелин m (hermelin)
• Czech: hermelín m
• Finnish: kärpännahka, hermeliini
• French: hermine (fr) f
• Georgian: ყარყუმი (q̇arq̇umi)
• German: Hermelin (de) m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hermelin (no) m

  Nynorsk: hermelin m

• Polish: gronostaje m pl
• Romanian: hermină (ro) f
• Russian: горноста́й (ru) m (gornostáj)
• Spanish: armiño (es) m
• Volapük: (untanned) härminaskin, härminapläd, visafot

a symbol of purity

• Spanish: armiño (es) m

the office of a judge

(heraldry) a white field with black spots

• Czech: hermelín m
• Dutch: hermelijn (nl) m
• Finnish: kärpännahka
• French: hermine (fr) f
• German: Hermelin (de) n
• Italian: armellino (it) m
• Macedonian: хермели́н m (hermelín)
• Polish: gronostaj (pl) m
• Romanian: herminat (ro) m or n
• Spanish: armiño (es) m
• Swedish: hermelin (sv)

moths of the family Yponomeutidae

• Finnish: kehrääjäkoi (fi)

Adjective

ermine (not comparable)

The coat of arms of Britanny is blazone ermine.

1. (heraldry) In blazon, of the colour ermine (white with black spots).

Translations

of white colour with black spots on a coat of arms

• Czech: hermelínový
• Danish: hermelin (da)
• Swedish: hermelin (sv)

Verb

ermine (third-person singular simple present ermines, present participle ermining, simple past and past participle ermined)

1. (transitive) To clothe with ermine.

Anagrams

• enmire, Remine, remine, ReMine, emerin, Nereim

Middle English

Noun

ermine

1. Alternative form of ermyne

Old French

Alternative forms

• ermin, hermin, hermine

Etymology

Either from Vulgar Latin *(mus) Armenius (“Armenian (mouse)”) (see Armenia) or Frankish *harmīn (“ermine”, adjective) (from *harmō (“ermine”)).

Noun

ermine oblique singular, f (oblique plural ermines, nominative singular ermine, nominative plural ermines)

1. ermine (fabric)
   • c. 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:

     La pane fu de blanc ermine

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• Middle French: hermin, ermin
  • French: hermine
    • → Romanian: hermină
    • → Turkish: ermin
• → Middle English: ermyne, armyn, armyne, ermin, ermine, ermyn, hermyn
  • English: ermine
  • Scots: ermine