Etymology
The root word for "stoat" is likely either the Belgic word stout, meaning "bold" or the Gothic word stautan, meaning "to push". According to John Guillim, in his Display of Heraldrie, the word "ermine" is likely derived from Armenia, the nation where it was thought the species originated, though other authors have linked it to the Norman French from the Teutonic harmin (Anglo-Saxon hearma). This again seems to come from the Lithuanian word šarmu. In Ireland (where the least weasel does not occur), the stoat is referred to as "weasel", while in North America it is called "short-tailed weasel". A male stoat is called a dog, hob or jack, while a female is called a bitch or jill. The collective noun for stoats is either "gang" or "pack".
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Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)