a valuable fur-bearing animal of the genus mustela (m. erminea), allied to the weasel; the stoat. it is found in the northern parts of asia, europe, and america. in summer it is brown, but in winter it becomes white, except the tip of the tail, which is always black.-the fur of the ermine, as prepared for ornamenting garments of royalty, etc., by having the tips of the tails, which are black, arranged at regular intervals throughout the white.-by metonymy, the office or functions of a judge, whose state robe, lined with ermine, is emblematical of purity and honor without stain.-one of the furs. see fur (her.)-to clothe with, or as with, ermine.