fesnyng

English

Etymology

From business by a series of misprints and copying errors; hence, a ghost word. It has been mentioned written as *feamyng, too.

Pronunciation

• enPR: fĕsʹ-nĭng, fĕzʹ-nĭng, IPA^(key): /ˈfɛs.nɪŋ/, /ˈfɛz.nɪŋ/
  • (US) /ˈfɛz.ɪŋ/
• Hyphenation: fes‧nyng
• Rhymes: -ɛsnɪŋ, -ɛznɪŋ

Noun

fesnyng (plural fesnyngs)

1. A group (of ferrets); a business; the collective noun for ferrets.
   • 1991, Noel Perrin, A Noel Perrin Sampler, Dartmouth College Press:

     ... where I consoled myself with a fesnyng of pet ferrets I then kept

   • 2012, Sue Ellery, Gallimaufry, →ISBN:

     Ferrets are fiercely solitary animals. They are no more likely to get together in a fesnyng that you or I are. […] 'Well, there was a fesnyng in your bathtub..."

   • 2016, Richard Blackburn, Rise of the Gatekeeper (Book 3 Guardians of the Gate), Lachesis Publishing Inc, →ISBN, page 81:

     “You should 'ave seen 'er attack a fox. She's got guts, she 'as, and she's a ferret for your information.” “A ferret, eh? That's worth more than a weasel, isn't it? And if she's that good, we'll 'ave ter find a mate for 'er. Breed our own fesnyng of the beasts […] ”

   • 2018, Charlton Pettus, Exit Strategy, Harlequin, →ISBN:

     A pride of lions, a murder of crows, a crash of rhinos, a fesnyng of ferrets, a pity, no, a piteousness of doves, a memory of elephants, an ascension of larks. He wasn't crazy. He'd measure and check the marks, then maybe they'd let him fold for ...