From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
marten \mar"ten\, noun [From older martern, marter, martre, F. martre, marte, LL. martures (pl.), fr. L. martes; akin to AS. mear[eth], meard, G. marder, OHG. mardar, Icel. m["o]r[eth]r. Cf. {Foumart}.]
1. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of several fur-bearing carnivores of the genus {Martes} (formerly {Mustela}), closely allied to the sable. Among the more important species are the European {beech marten} or {stone marten} ({Martes foina}); the {pine marten} ({Martes martes}); and the {American marten}, or {sable} ({Martes Americana}), which some zo["o]logists consider only a variety of the Russian sable. [1913 Webster +PJC]
2. The fur of the marten, used for hats, muffs, etc.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Sable \Sa"ble\, adjective Of the color of the sable's fur; dark; black; -- used chiefly in poetry.
Night, sable goddess! from her ebon throne, In rayless majesty, now stretches forth Her leaden scepter o'er a slumbering world. --Young.
{Sable antelope} (Zo["o]l.), a large South African antelope ({Hippotragus niger}). Both sexes have long, sharp horns. The adult male is black; the female is dark chestnut above, white beneath.
{Sable iron}, a superior quality of Russia iron; -- so called because originally stamped with the figure of a sable.
{Sable mouse} (Zo["o]l.), the lemming.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Sable \Sa"ble\, noun [OF. sable, F. zibeline sable (in sense 4), LL. sabellum; cf. D. sabel, Dan. sabel, zobel, Sw. sabel, sobel, G. zobel; all fr. Russ. s['o]bole.]
1. (Zo["o]l.) A carnivorous animal of the Weasel family ({Mustela zibellina}) native of the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and America, -- noted for its fine, soft, and valuable fur.
Note: The sable resembles the marten, but has a longer head and ears. Its fur consists of a soft under wool, with a dense coat of hair, overtopped by another still longer. It varies greatly in color and quality according to the locality and the season of the year. The darkest and most valuable furs are taken in autumn and winter in the colder parts of Siberia, Russia, and British North America.
Note: The American sable, or marten, was formerly considered a distinct species ({Mustela Americana}), but it differs very little from the Asiatic sable, and is now considered only a geographical variety.
3. A mourning garment; a funeral robe; -- generally in the plural. ''Sables wove by destiny.'' --Young.
4. (Her.) The tincture black; -- represented by vertical and horizontal lines crossing each other.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Sable \Sa"ble\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Sabled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Sabling}.] To render sable or dark; to drape darkly or in black.
Sabled all in black the shady sky. --G. Fletcher.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adjective
1: dark somewhat brownish black
noun
1: an artist's brush made of sable hair [syn: {sable brush}, {sable's hair pencil}]
2: the expensive dark brown fur of the marten
3: a very dark black [syn: {coal black}, {ebony}, {jet black}, {pitch black}, {soot black}]
4: a scarf (or trimming) made of sable
5: marten of northern Asian forests having luxuriant dark brown fur [syn: {Martes zibellina}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
146 Moby Thesaurus words for "sable": achievement, alerion, animal charge, annulet, argent, armorial bearings, armory, arms, atramentous, azure, bandeau, bar, bar sinister, baton, bearings, bend, bend sinister, billet, black, black as coal, black as ebony, black as ink, black as midnight, black as night, black race, blackness, blazon, blazonry, bordure, broad arrow, cadency mark, canton, chaplet, charge, chevron, chief, coal-black, coaly, coat of arms, cockatrice, coronet, crescent, crest, cross, cross moline, crown, dark, dark as night, dark as pitch, darkness, deep black, device, difference, differencing, dusky, eagle, ebon, ebony, ermine, ermines, erminites, erminois, escutcheon, falcon, fess, fess point, field, file, flanch, fleur-de-lis, fret, fur, fusil, garland, gloomy, griffin, gules, gyron, hatchment, helmet, heraldic device, honor point, impalement, impaling, inescutcheon, ink-black, inkiness, inky, jet, jetty, label, lion, lozenge, mantling, marshaling, martlet, mascle, melanism, metal, midnight, motto, mullet, murky, night-black, night-dark, nigrescence, nigritude, nigrous, nombril point, octofoil, or, ordinary, orle, pale, paly, pean, pheon, pitch-black, pitch-dark, pitchy, purpure, quarter, quartering, raven, raven-black, rose, saltire, scutcheon, shield, sloe, sloe-black, sloe-colored, somber, spread eagle, subordinary, tar-black, tarry, tenne, tincture, torse, tressure, unicorn, vair, vert, wreath, yale
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