sable

Noun

1. (countable) A small carnivorous mammal of the Old World that resembles a weasel, Martes zibellina, from cold regions in Eurasia and the North Pacific islands, valued for its dark brown fur.
2. (countable) Any other marten, especially Martes americana (syn. Mustela americana).
3. (countable, uncountable) A pelt of fur of a sable or of one of another species of martens; a coat made from this fur.
4. (countable) An artist's brush made from the fur of the sable, the kolinsky sable-hair brush.
5. (countable, uncountable) A black colour on a coat of arms.
6. (countable, uncountable) A dark brown colour, resembling the fur of some sables.
7. (countable, in-plural, uncountable) Black garments, especially worn in mourning.
8. (countable, uncountable) The sablefish.

Adj

1. Sable-coloured, black.
2. In blazon, of the colour black.
3. Made of sable fur.
4. Dark, somber.
5. (archaic, literary) Dark-skinned; Black.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈseɪbəl/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: sable

Cognate with Middle Dutch: sabel

Cognate with Middle High German: zobel

Cognate with Russian: со́боль

Cognate with Polish: soból

Cognate with Czech: sobol

Cognate with Pahlavi: smwl

In summary

Attested 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); ultimately from a Slavic word (compare Russian со́боль (sóbolʹ), Polish soból, Czech sobol). Compare also Middle Persian smwl (*samōr).

Synonyms

black

dark

sable brush

sable’s hair pencil

soot black

Martes zibellina

marten

pitch black

ebony

coal black

jet black

elegiac

funeral

funereal

gloomy

grim

heavy

lugubrious

mink

mournful

mourning

murky

obscure

pitchy

sable martin

saturnine

somber

sombre

spear

sulky

sullen

sunless

Black

glooming

Negroes

Russian sable

mirky

gloomful

angry

😠

sable marten

blackened

bleak

blue

clouded

colored

coloured

darkling

dim

disconsolate

dismal

Translations

zibeline

Zobel

zibellino

zwart

sable

soból

nero

Martes zibellina

martre

sable

sable

sabel

zibelina

Schwarz

sabeldier