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sable

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: sablé, Sable, and Sablé

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

  • sa., s. (in heraldic contexts)

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈseɪbəl/, /ˈseɪbɫ/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪbəl
  • Hyphenation: sa‧ble

Noun

sable (countable and uncountable, plural sables)

  1. (countable) 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. (countable) Any other marten, especially Martes americana (syn. Mustela americana).
  3. (countable and uncountable) A pelt of fur of a sable or of one of another species of martens; a coat made from this fur.
  4. (countable) An artist's brush made from the fur of the sable, the kolinsky sable-hair brush.
  5. (heraldry) A black colour on a coat of arms.
    sable (heraldry):  
  6. (countable and uncountable) A dark brown colour, resembling the fur of some sables.
    sable:  
  7. (in the plural, sables) Black garments, especially worn in mourning.
  8. The sablefish.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

sable (comparative sabler, superlative sablest)

  1. Sable-coloured, black.
  2. (heraldry) In blazon, of the colour black.
  3. Made of sable fur.
  4. Dark, somber.
    • 1922, Michael Arlen, “3/2/1”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days‎:
      She turned and waved a hand to him, she cried a word, but he didn't hear it, it was a lost word. A sable wraith she was in the parkland, fading away into the dolorous crypt of winter.
  5. (archaic, literary) Dark-skinned; Black.
    • 1789, Olaudah Equiano, chapter 7, in The Interesting Narrative, volume I:
      Some of the sable females, who formerly stood aloof, now began to relax and appear less coy; but my heart was still fixed on London, where I hoped to be ere long.
    • 1880 June 19, Henry Kendall, “My Piccaninny”, in The Australian Town and Country Journal, page 28, column 4:
      Ethnologists are in the wrong / About our sable brothers[.]
    • 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 281:
      Of this one of the drovers writes thus: - "Very soon there will be homesteads and stations dotted all over the Territory within easy distances of one another, driving our sable brethren from their ancient hunting grounds."
    • 1905, Banjo Paterson, Old Bush Songs, page 40:
      For twelve long months I had to pace, / Humping my swag with a cadging face, / Sleeping in the bush, like the sable race.

Synonyms

Translations

colour

See also

References

  • Random House Dictionary, 2nd Edition, 1987.

Anagrams

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Asturian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈsable/ [ˈsa.β̞le]
  • Rhymes: -able
  • Syllabification: sa‧ble

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Leonese sable, perhaps from French sable and this from Late Latin sablum, from Latin sabulum, alternative form of sabulō. Compare sablera. Compare Italian sabbia, Occitan sabla.

Noun

sable m (uncountable)

  1. sand

Etymology 2

From Spanish sable and this from French sabre, from German Säbel, from Hungarian szablya, cognate with Danish sabel, Russian са́бля (sáblja), Polish szabla, Serbo-Croatian сабља.

Alternative forms

Noun

sable m (plural sables)

  1. saber
  2. edge of a scythe

Further reading

  • Xosé Lluis García Arias (2002–2004), “sable (noun 1)”, in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana [General Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Spanish), Editorial Prensa Asturiana, →ISBN
  • Xosé Lluis García Arias (2002–2004), “sable (noun 2)”, in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana [General Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Spanish), Editorial Prensa Asturiana, →ISBN
  • “sable”, in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana [Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Asturian), 1ª edición, Academia de la Llingua Asturiana, 2000, →ISBN
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Basque

Basque Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia eu

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /s̺able/ [s̺a.β̞le]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -able, -e
  • Hyphenation: sa‧ble

Noun

sable inan

  1. sabre, saber

Further reading

  • “sable”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
  • “sable”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

Catalan

Pronunciation

Noun

sable m (plural sables)

  1. (heraldry) sable

French

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old French, from Vulgar Latin sablum, from Latin sabulum, alternative form of sabulō. Compare sablon, which was used more often in Old French. Compare Italian sabbia, Occitan sabla.

Noun

sable m (plural sables)

  1. sand
    un grain de sable ― a grain of sand
Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Old French martre sable (“sable marten”), an animal. From Middle Low German sabel (compare Middle Dutch sabel, Middle High German zobel); ultimately from a Balto-Slavic word (compare Russian со́боль (sóbolʹ), Polish soból, Czech sobol). Compare also Persian سمور (samur). Doublet of zibeline.

Noun

sable m (plural sables)

  1. (heraldry) the heraldic colour sable; black

Etymology 3

From sabler.

Verb

sable

  1. inflection of sabler:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

Anagrams

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Galician

Old French

Old Leonese

Portuguese

Spanish

Tagalog

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