marter

Meaning

marten (mammal)

Concepts

marten

weasel

jill

wolverine

tiger cat

musteline

Synonyms

muishond

wezel

boommarter

steenmarter

Translations

Marder

marte

marta

marta

sansar

martora

marta

martre

marta

martes

zerdeva

δενδροκούναβο

Wiesel

belette

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈmɑr.tər/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Dutch: marter

In summary

From Middle Dutch marter, maerter, martel, which is generally believed to be a reborrowing from Old French martre, itself from Proto-West Germanic *marþr (“marten”), which see. Alternatively, however, the irregular /t/ (instead of *marder) might be due to a special development of West Germanic *þ in the difficult cluster *rþr (either early stopping to *rtr or otherwise failure to undergo voicing to [rðr]). Compare Low German Moter, e.g. around Paderborn, where French influence is less plausible.