ermine

Origin

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.