Meaning

noun the expensive white fur of the ermine

noun mustelid of northern hemisphere in its white winter coat

originFrom 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),…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0