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/sˈeɪbəl/ Listen

noun

Sable n.

(Zool.) 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. Note: The sable resembles the marten, but has a longer head and ears. Its fur consists of a soft under wool, with a dense coat of hair, overtopped by another still longer. It varies greatly in color and quality according to the locality and the season of the year. The darkest and most valuable furs are taken in autumn and winter in the colder parts of Siberia, Russia, and British North America. Note: The American sable, or marten, was formerly considered a distinct species (Mustela Americana), but it differs very little from the Asiatic sable, and is now considered only a geographical variety.

The fur of the sable.

A mourning garment; a funeral robe; generally in the plural. "Sables wove by destiny."

(Her.) The tincture black; represented by vertical and horizontal lines crossing each other.

adjective

Sable adj. Of the color of the sable's fur; dark; black; used chiefly in poetry. "Night, sable goddess! from her ebon throne, In rayless majesty, now stretches forth Her leaden scepter o'er a slumbering world."

Sable antelope (Zool.), a large South African antelope (Hippotragus niger). Both sexes have long, sharp horns. The adult male is black; the female is dark chestnut above, white beneath.

Sable iron, a superior quality of Russia iron; so called because originally stamped with the figure of a sable.

Sable mouse (Zool.), the lemming.

verb

Sable v. t. (past & past part. sabled; pres. part. sabling) To render sable or dark; to drape darkly or in black. "Sabled all in black the shady sky."

See images of 'Sable'

Etymology of 'Sable'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Sable" Quotes from Famous Books

... saying, "I have a superb scenario for a revue. Let us join forces! I promise you we shall make a fortune; we shall exchange our attics for first floors of fashion, and be wealthy enough to wear sable overcoats and Panama hats at the same time." In ordinary circumstances, of course, Pitou would have collaborated only with Tricotrin, but Tricotrin was just then engrossed by a tragedy in blank verse and seven acts, and he said to them, "Make a fortune together by all means, my ...

— A Chair on The Boulevard • Leonard Merrick

... Mr. Ried, he had long before this shadded his eyes with his hand, and was looking through half-closed fingers with mournful eyes at the sable robes and pallid face of his golden-haired darling, apparently utterly unconscious of or indifferent to the ...

— Ester Ried • Pansy (aka. Isabella M. Alden)

... coming, because they had had a long discussion as to the propriety of wearing their sable garments. Romeo, disliking the trouble of changing, argued that Allison ought to see that their grief was sincere. Juliet insisted that the sight ...

— Old Rose and Silver • Myrtle Reed

... no apprehension, but seemed to regard us as beings of a race so different, without the slightest indication of either fear, aversion, or surprise. Their looks were rather expressive of a ready acquiescence in the proffered kindness of the men, and when at length they brought a sable nymph vis-a-vis to Mr. White, I could preserve my gravity no longer, and throwing the spears aside, I ordered the ...

— Primitive Love and Love-Stories • Henry Theophilus Finck

... toll," they said. "It's too much like a dancing tune for that," and as the sound continued they walked rapidly to the church, where they found the African bending himself with might and main to his task, the perspiration dripping from his sable face, which was all aglow ...

— Cousin Maude • Mary J. Holmes

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