English Explanatory Dictionary

sable

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. 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. Any other marten, especially Martes americana (syn. Mustela americana).
  3. A pelt of fur of a sable or of one of another species of martens; a coat made from this fur.
  4. An artist's brush made from the fur of the sable, the kolinsky sable-hair brush.
  5. A black colour on a coat of arms.
  6. A dark brown colour, resembling the fur of some sables.
  7. Black garments, especially worn in mourning.
  8. The sablefish.
adj
  1. Sable-coloured, black.
  2. In blazon, of the colour black.
  3. Made of sable fur.
  4. Dark, somber.
  5. Dark-skinned; Black.
name
  1. A surname.

Pronunciation

/ˈseɪbəl/ /ˈseɪbɫ/ En-us-sable.ogg

Word forms

sable sables sa. s. sabler sablest

Etymology

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

Synonyms

black dusky inky sooty swarthy

Related words

zibeline

Derived words

American sable red sable Russian sable sable antelope sabled sablefish sable iron sable mouse sableness sably Siberian sable

Translations

Southern Altai: киш Arabic: سَمُّور Armenian: սամույր Old Armenian: սամոյր Azerbaijani: samur Bashkir: кеш Belarusian: со́баль Bulgarian: самур Bulgarian: самурова кожа Buryat: булган Catalan: mart gibelí Catalan: marta gibelina Catalan: gibelí Chinese Mandarin: 黑貂 Chinese Mandarin: 紫貂 Chinese Mandarin: 黑貂皮 Chukchi: кытгым Czech: sobol Danish: zobel Daur: baleg Dolgan: киис Dutch: sabel Dutch: sabelmarter Dutch: sabeldier Esperanto: zibelo Estonian: soobel Even: хэгэп Evenki: некэ̄ Faroese: sobul Faroese: sibiriskur márur Faroese: saval Finnish: soopeli Finnish: soopelinnahka French: zibeline French: martre Galician: marta cibelina Georgian: სიასამური German: Zobel Hindi: सेबल Hungarian: coboly Hungarian: cobolyprém Icelandic: safali Ingrian: sooboli Irish: sáible Italian: zibellina Japanese: クロテン Japanese: クロテンの毛皮 Kazakh: бұлғын Khakas: албыға Komi-Zyrian: низь Korean: 검은담비 Kyrgyz: киш Latin: mus silvestris Bulgarian: черен Danish: sort Dutch: zwart Dutch: sabel Finnish: musta French: sable German: schwarz Hungarian: fekete Italian: nero Macedonian: црн Polish: czarny Portuguese: sable Portuguese: saibro Romanian: negru Russian: чёрный Serbo-Croatian: црна Serbo-Croatian: crna Spanish: sable Swedish: svart
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on S Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary