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, The Faerie Queene, III.ii:
      And on his shield enueloped seuenfold / He bore a crowned litle Ermilin [...].
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