Meaning

noun an artist's brush made of sable hairs

noun the expensive dark brown fur of the marten

noun a very dark black

originAttested since 1275, from Middle English sable, from Old French sable and martre sable (“sable marten”), in reference to the animal or its fur; from Medieval Latin sabelum, from Middle Low German sabel (compare Middle Dutch sabel, Middle High German zobel, whence German Zobel); ultimately from a Slavic word (compare Russian со́боль (sóbolʹ), Polish soból, Czech sobol). Compare also Middle Persian…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0