marten

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Any of several principally arboreal carnivorous mammals of the genus Martes, related to the weasel, mainly inhabiting northern forests, and having a slender body, bushy tail, and soft fur.
2. n. The fur of one of these carnivorous mammals.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A digitigrade carnivorous quadruped of the family Mustelidœ, subfamily Mustelinœ, and genus Mustela or Martes, of which there are several species, all inhabiting the northern hemisphere. The name was originally given to the common pine-marten. Mustela martes or Martes abietum, of the northerly parts of Europe. This animal is about 18 inches long, with a full bushy tail 12 inches long, and thus rather larger than a house-cat, but standing much lower, on account of the shortness of the legs. The fur, consisting of three kinds of hairs, is full and soft, and of an extremely variable shade of brown, usually paler on the head and under parts. A closely related species is the stone- or beech-marten, Mustela foina, of Great Britain and many other parts of Europe; it is, on the average, smaller in size, with a whitish throat and inferior pelage. The American pine-marten, M. americana, is similar, but specifically distinct; it inhabits the northerly United States and the whole of British America, and is commonly called the American sable. The Siberian or true sable is M. zibellina, of blackish color and with an extremely rich and valuable fur. The pekan, fisher, or Pennant's marten, Mustela pennanti, much larger than any of the foregoing and of a blackish color, is a very distinct species peculiar to northerly North America. See sable, and cut under fisher, 2.
2. n. A carnivorous marsupial of the genus Phascogale, as the spotted marten of Australia.
3. n. An obsolete spelling of martin.

Wiktionary

1. n. Any carnivorous mammal of the genus Martes in the family Mustelidae.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Zoöl.) A bird. See martin.
2. n. (Zoöl.) 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 zoölogists consider only a variety of the Russian sable.
3. n. The fur of the marten, used for hats, muffs, etc.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. agile slender-bodied arboreal mustelids somewhat larger than weasels