sable

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A carnivorous mammal (Martes zibellina) of northern Europe and Asia, having soft dark fur.
2. n. The pelt or fur of this animal.
3. n. The similar fur of other species of martens.
4. n. The color black, especially in heraldry.
5. n. Black garments worn in mourning.
6. n. A grayish yellowish brown.
7. n. A sablefish.
8. adj. Of a grayish yellowish brown.
9. adj. Of the color black, as in heraldry or mourning.
10. adj. Dark; somber.
11. adj. Of the fur of the sable: a sable coat.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A digitigrade carnivorous quadruped, Mustela zibellina, of the family Mustelidæ and subfamily Mustelinæ, closely related to the martens. It inhabits arctic and subarctic regions of the Old World, especially Russia and Siberia, having a copious lustrous pelage, of a dark-brown or blackish color, yielding one of the most highly prized of pelts. The animal is about 18 inches long, with a full bushy tail nearly a foot long; the limbs are short and stout, with small paws. The nose is sharp, and the ears are pricked. There are three kinds of hairs in the pelage—a short soft dense under-fur, a second set of longer hairs, kinky like the first but coming to the surface, and fewer longer glistening hairs, bristly to the very roots. The pursuit of the sable forms an important industry in Siberia. The pelt is in the best order in winter. The darkest furs are the most valuable. None are dead-black, nor is the animal ever uniformly dark-colored, the head being quite gray or even whitish, and there is usually a large tawny space on the throat, which color may be found also in blotches over much of the under surface. Some other martens, resembling the true sable, receive the same name. Thus, the American marten, M. americana, is a sable hardly distinguishable from that of Siberia, except in some technical dental characters. Its fur is very valuable, though usually not so dark as that of the Siberian sable. M. melanopus of Japan is a kind of sable. See also cut under marten.
2. n. The dressed pelt or fur of the sable.
3. n. The color black in a general sense, and especially as the color of mourning: so called with reference to the general dark color of the fur of the sable as compared with other furs, or from its being dyed black as sealskin is dyed.
4. n. A black cloth or covering of any kind; mourning-garments in general; a suit of black: often in the plural.
5. n. A fine paint-brush or pencil made of hair from the tail of the sable.
6. n. In heraldry, black; one of the tinctures, represented when the colors are not given, as in engraving, by a close network of vertical and horizontal lines. Abbreviated S., sa. See also cut under pall.
7. n. A British collectors' name of certain pyralid moths. Botys nigrata is the wavy-barred sable, and B, lingulata is the silver-barred sable.
8. Made of sable: as, a sable muff or tippet.
9. Of the color of a sable; dark-brown; blackish.
10. Black, especially as applied to mourning, or as an attribute.
11. To make like sable in color; darken; blacken; hence, figuratively, to make sad or dismal; sadden.
12. n. A Spanish name of the cutlas-fish.

Wiktionary

1. n. A small carnivorous mammal of the Old World that resembles a weasel, Mustela zibellina, from cold regions in Eurasia and the North Pacific islands, valued for its dark brown fur (Wikipedia).
2. n. The marten, especially Mustela americana.
3. n. The fur or pelt of the sable or other species of martens; a coat made from this fur.
4. n. An artist's brush made from the fur of the sable (Wikipedia).
5. n. heraldry : A black colour on a coat of arms.
6. n. A black colour, resembling the fur of some sables.
7. n. in the plural Black garments worn in mourning.
8. adj. Of the black colour sable.
9. adj. heraldry : In blazon, of the colour black.
10. adj. Made of sable fur.
11. adj. Dark, somber.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Zoöl.) 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.
2. n. The fur of the sable.
3. n. A mourning garment; a funeral robe; -- generally in the plural.
4. n. (Her.) The tincture black; -- represented by vertical and horizontal lines crossing each other.
5. adj. Of the color of the sable's fur; dark; black; -- used chiefly in poetry.
6. v. To render sable or dark; to drape darkly or in black.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the expensive dark brown fur of the marten
2. n. marten of northern Asian forests having luxuriant dark brown fur
3. n. a very dark black
4. n. an artist's brush made of sable hairs
5. n. a scarf (or trimming) made of sable
6. adj. of a dark somewhat brownish black