ermine
/ˈɝmɪn/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.46 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The white fur of this animal, traditionally seen as a symbol of purity and used for judges' robes.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The fur of this animal, used as a heraldic tincture: a white field with a repeating pattern of stylized black spots.
Countable; Uncountable
adj
In blazon, of the colour ermine (white with black spots).
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 Romansh 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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɝmɪn/
- British English: /ˈɜːmɪn/