ermine, shorttail weasel, Mustela erminea
(noun) mustelid of northern hemisphere in its white winter coat
ermine
(noun) the expensive white fur of the ermine
Source: WordNet® 3.1
ermine (countable and uncountable, plural ermines or ermine)
A weasel, Mustela erminea, found in northern latitudes; its dark brown fur turns white in winter (apart from the black tip of the tail).
The white fur of this animal, traditionally seen as a symbol of purity and used for judges' robes.
(by extension, figuratively) The office of a judge.
(tincture) A white field with black spots.
• stoat (British)
• short-tailed weasel
• wild otter
ermine (not comparable)
(tincture): In blazon, of the colour hermine (white with black spots).
ermine (third-person singular simple present ermines, present participle ermining, simple past and past participle ermined)
To clothe with ermine.
• ReMine, Remine, emerin, enmire, remine
Source: Wiktionary
Er"mine, n. Etym: [OF. ermine, F. hermine, prob. of German origin; cf. OHG. harmo, G. hermelin, akin to Lith. szarm, szarmonys, weasel, cf. AS. hearma; but cf. also LL. armelinus, armellina, hermellina, and pellis Armenia, the fur of the Armenian rat, mus Armenius, the animal being found also in Armenia.]
1. (Zoƶl.)
Definition: A valuable fur-bearing animal of the genus Mustela (M. erminea), allied to the weasel; the stoat. It is found in the northern parts of Asia, Europe, and America. In summer it is brown, but in winter it becomes white, except the tip of the tail, which is always black.
2. The fur of the ermine, as prepared for ornamenting garments of royalty, etc., by having the tips of the tails, which are black, arranged at regular intervals throughout the white.
3. By metonymy, the office or functions of a judge, whose state robe, lined with ermine, is emblematical of purity and honor without stain. Chatham.
4. (Her.)
Definition: One of the furs. See Fur (Her.)
Note: Ermine is represented by an argent field, tufted with black. Ermines is the reverse of ermine, being black, spotted or timbered with argent. Erminois is the same as ermine, except that or is substituted for argent. Ermine moth (Zoƶl.), a white moth with black spots (esp. Yponomeuta padella of Europe); -- so called on account of the resemblance of its covering to the fur of the ermine; also applied to certain white bombycid moths of America.
Er"mine, v. t.
Definition: To clothe with, or as with, ermine. The snows that have ermined it in the winter. Lowell.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
15 April 2025
(adjective) marked by or promising bad fortune; ātheir business venture was doomed from the startā; āan ill-fated business ventureā; āan ill-starred romanceā; āthe unlucky prisoner was again put in ironsā- W.H.Prescott
The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.
