Sable

n. [O. Fr. sable, N. Fr. zibeline, Pr. sebelin, sembelin, Sp. & Pg. cebellina, zebellina, It. zibellino, L. Lat. sabellinus, sabellum, zibellinus, zebellinus, D. sabel, Dan. sabel, zobel, Sw. sabel, sobel, Ger. zobel, Russ. sóbolj. This word and the animal were probably not known to the Greeks and Romans till a late period. Jornandes mentions the sending to Rome, in the 6th century, of saphilinas pelles — sable skins; and Marco Polo calls them zibelines and zombolines.]

1Sense 1. (Zoöl.) A carnivorous animal of the weasel family (Mustela zibellina), found in the northern latitudes of Europe and Asia.

☞ The sable resembles the marten, but has a longer head and ears. Its fur, which is exceedingly valuable, consists of a downy under-wool, with a dense coat of hair overtopped by another still longer. This upper covering will lie in any direction, backward or forward; and a skin is valued in proportion as this coat is abundant, black, and glossy. The American sable is the M. Americana, or pine-marten.

2Sense 2. The fur of the sable.

3Sense 3. A mourning garment; a funeral robe. “Sables woven by destiny.” Young.

4Sense 4. (Her.) The tincture or color black; — represented by vertical and horizontal lines crossing each other.

a. [From the noun, supra.] Of the color of the sable’s fur; dark; black; — used chiefly in poetry.

Night, sable goddess, from her ebon throne, Now stretches forth in rayless majesty Her ebon scepter o’er a slumbering world. Young.

Sable-iron, a very superior quality of Russian iron; — so called because originally stamped with the figure of a sable.

[imp. & p. p. SABLED; p. pr. & vb. n. SABLING.] To render sable or dark in color. “Sabled all in black the shady sky.” Fletcher.