▪ I. marten
(ˈmɑːtən)
Forms: α. 5 martiron, martren, martroun, -tryn, marterount, 5–7 martron(e, 6 marteron, -tyron, 5–8 martern(e. β. 6 matron, materne, 7 mattern(e. γ. 6–9 martin, 7 martyn, marton, 6– marten.
[Late ME. martren, a. (perh. through MDu. martren) OF. martrine marten fur, subst. use (with ellipsis of peau skin) of martrin adj., pertaining to the marten, f. martre: see marter1.
The word, originally denoting the fur, came to be used as the name of the animal itself, instead of marter n.1, which it finally displaced. The dropping of the r in the last syllable may have been partly due to association with martin.]
† 1. The skins or fur of the animal now called marten: see sense 2. Often in pl. Obs.
| 14.. Lydg. Life Our Lady (MS. Soc. Antiq. 134 lf. 25) (Halliw.), Ne martryn, ne sabil, y trowe, in god fay, Was none founden in hire garnement. 1422 in E.E. Wills (1882) 50 Myn eche daies gowne of marterount. 1436 Libel Eng. Policy in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 186 Irish wollen, lynyn cloth, faldynge, And marternus gode. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn xv. 50 A longe gowne furred wyth fyn martrons. 1555 Lanc. Wills II. 192 My newe clothe gowene furred w{supt} Marterons. 1575 Inv. in Archæol. XXX. 17 An old tawny damaske cassock, edged with matrons. 1596 Danett tr. Comines (1614) 85 A goodly gown furred with martins. a 1612 Harington Sch. Salerne in Babees Bk. (1868) 255 Garments of..Martyn or Wolfe-skinnes. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xl. 160 Crimson sattin cassocks lined with marterns. 1696 Phillips (ed. 5), Marternes, or Sables, a kind of rich Fur. |
2. An animal belonging to any one of certain species of
Mustela, yielding a valuable fur. Often with distinguishing word, as
beech-marten,
stone marten,
M. foina;
pine (or † fir) marten,
M. martes;
American pine marten,
M. americana.
| 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 595/8 Martrix, a martron. 1463–4 Rolls of Parlt. V. 505/1 Furres of Martirons, Furres, Letyce. 1486 Bk. St. Albans e j, The Fox and the Martron, and the wilde Roo. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Vne Marte, a beaste that is called the Marten. 1587 Harrison England ii. xix. (1877) i. 310 The beasts of the chase were commonlie the bucke, the roe, the foxe, and the marterne. 1589 ? Lyly Pappe w. Hatchet Wks. 1902 III. 402 Be thou Martin the bird or Martin the beast. 1594 in Crompton Jurisd. 195 b, One claimed a free chase within the forest, for Hare, foxe, wild cat, and martrons. 1602 Carew Cornwall 22 Beastes of Venery persecuted for their case, or dammage feasance, are Marternes, Squirrels. 1643 Horn & Rob. Gate Lang. Unl. xvii. §209 The..matterne (poll-cat), sable, and ermine are good for furres. 1675 Dugdale Baronage I. 467/1 Certain Dogs for the destruction of Wolves, Foxes, Martrons, Cats, and other Vermine. 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. i. 307 A Martern is about the Bigness of a Cat, having a long Body and short Legs, with a Head and Tail like a Fox. 1768 Pennant Brit. Zool. (1776) I. 78 Pine Martin. 1827 J. F. Cooper Prairie I. i. 17 The martin's fur of his cap was of a fineness..that a queen might covet. 1859 Wood Nat. Hist. I. 345 The chief distinction between the Pine and the Beech Martens. |
b. Zool. By some writers used as a vernacular name for the genus
Mustela, including the ferret, weasel, etc., together with the species ordinarily known as martens.
| 1896 Kirkaldy & Pollard tr. Boas' Zool. 516. |
3. spotted marten: a name for an Australian marsupial of the genus
Phascologale. (Not in Morris
Austral Eng.)
4. attrib., as
marten-skin,
marten-tails;
marten-cat,
-weasel,
= sense 2;
marten-cub, a marten of the first year (Phillips 1696);
marten family Zool., the Mustelidæ (see
quot.).
| 1798 C. Smith Yng. Philos. II. 170 The wood..was infested by Wild or *Martin cats. 1845 Zoologist III. 1018 A specimen of the marten-cat (Martes Foina) was taken in a trap. 1884 Pall Mall G. 9 Sept. 2/2 The martin-cat is nearly extinct. |
| 1896 Kirkaldy & Pollard tr. Boas' Zool. 516 The *Marten family (Mustelidæ) [comprises] (a) Martens (Mustela)..(b) The Otters (Lutra)..(c) Badgers (Meles taxus). |
| 1823 J. F. Cooper Pioneers i. (1869) 4/2 A cap of *martin skins. |
| 1691 Lond. Gaz. No. 2711/4 A large Muff of *Martin-Tails. |
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 497 So may this *Martin-weasel render a sweet excrement. |
Add:
[4.] marten trap.
| 1865 Milton & Cheadle N.W. Passage by Land xv. 310 Old marten-traps set at intervals informed us that we had at last touched..an old trapping path. 1912 E. T. Seton Arctic Prairies 344 He stated that the squirrels are occasionally taken in marten traps, but are rare. 1992 Vancouver Sun 6 Apr. b1/4 Minutes away from his riverside cabin, Anderson shows us a marten trap, rigged in such a way that when the animal is trapped the whole mechanism swings off the ground on a pole. |
▪ II. marten, -enet, -enist see
martin,
-et,
-ist.