Hermelin

Meaning

1. (neuter, strong) ermine (Mustela erminea)
2. (neuter, strong) ermine

Concepts

ermine

stoat

short-tailed weasel

ermines

stoats

mountain weasel

Nearctic ermine

Synonyms

Kurzschwanzwiesel

Großes Wiesel

großes Wiesel

Hermelinpelz

Ermine

Grosswiesel

grosses Wiesel

Hermünzel

Hermel

Kamille

Drudenkraut

Mutterkraut

Translations

hermine

armiño

arminho

hermelijn

ermellino

ermini

Mustela erminea

ερμίνα

kakım

ermina

as

ermin

kakim

قاقم

Pronounced as (IPA)

/hɛʁməˈliːn/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle High German: hermelīn

Inherited from Old High German: harmilī

Cognate with Latvian: sermulis

Cognate with Lithuanian: šarmuõ

In summary

From Middle High German hermelīn, from Old High German harmilī, diminutive of harmo (“ermine”), from Proto-Germanic *harmô. Cognates outside Germanic only in Latvian sermulis and Lithuanian šarmuõ, šermuõ.
The monophthong -i- in modern German (alongside obsolete Hermlein, Hermelein) as well as the final stress can be explained natively, as being from a non-diphthongising dialect on the one hand, and by comparing the irregular stress shift in such words as Holunder, Wacholder, lebendig on the other. However, it seems likely that both developments were reinforced by Romance words such as Italian ermellino, armellino, French hermine. The origin of these latter is contested; they are either borrowed from Germanic or go back to an unrelated Medieval Latin Armenius mūs (literally “Armenian mouse”).