The snows that have ermined it [a tree] in winter

Lowell, Among my Books, 2d ser., p. 237. Ermine2t, n. [ME.; cf. OF. Ermenie, ML. Her menia, Armenia.] An Armenian. Chaucer. erm iné (er-mi-nā'), a. [Heraldic F., ermined (ér'mind), a . 1. Clothed with ermine; adorned with the fur of the ermine. Ermined Age, and Youth in arms renown'd, Honouring his scourge and hair-cloth, meekly ki ed the ground. Scott , Don Roderick, st. 29. 2. Invested with the judicial power, or with the office or dignity of a judge. ermine-moth (er'min-môth), n. A moth, Ypo nomeuta padella , so called from its white and black coloration. ermines (èr'minz), n. In her ., a fur of a black ground with white spots (sable, spots argent): the reverse of ermine. Also called counter - er mine , contre-ermine. erminites (er'mi-nīts), n. her., a fur sometimes mentioned, the same as ermine , but with a single red hair on each IMG:content-0686.jpg:[graphic] In Ermines. IMG:content-0687.png:[blocks in formation] ermitt, n. An obsolete form of hermit. Jer. Taylor . ern it, ernelt, v. t. Obsolete forms of earn1 . ern2t, erne2t, v. i. Obsolete forms of earn2 . ern3, erne3, п. See earn3 . ernt, ernet, ernet, v. i. Same as earn4 . ern5t, n. [AS. ærn , a retired place or habitation, scarcely used except in comp. ( -ærn , -ern ), as bernet Earth (E. barn1), barn eorth - ern , a grave, etc.] A retired place or habitation: chiefly in composition. See etymology. -ern. [L. -ern us, -ern a, -tern us, -tern a , prop. a compound suffix, cavern , cistern, lantern, tavern, etc., also in adjectives, jectives, as mod ern, but in adjective use generally generally extended with- al , as in eternal , fraternal , maternal , pater nal, external, internal, infernal, supernal , etc. In some words -ern is an accommodation of various other terminations, as in pastern , pattern, postern , bittern , etc. ern-bleater (ėrn'blē" tér), n. The common snipe, Gall in a go media or cœlest is . Also called bog - bleater , heather - bleater . ernest 1t, n. and a. An obsolete form of earnest1 . ernest2t, n. An obsolete form of earnest2 . Ernestine (ér'nes-tin), a . Of or pertaining to the elder and ducal branch of the Saxon house which descended from Ernest (German Ernst ), Elector of Saxony (1441-86), who in 1485 divided with his younger brother Albert the territories ruled by them in common. The Ernestine and Albertine lines thus founded still continue. The latter wrested the electoral title from the former in 1547, and became the royal house of Saxony in 1806. The Ernestine line now holds the grand duchy of Saxe-Weimar and the duchies of Saxe-Me in in gen, Saxe-Altenburg, and Saxe Coburg-Gotha. - Ernestine pamphlet, a pamphlet published about 1530, under the auspices of the Ernestine Saxon line, advocating the debasement of the currency. See Albertine tracts , under Albertine . erode (e-rōd'), v.; pret. and pp. eroded , ppr. eroding. [L. erodere , gnaw off, e , out, off, + rodere , gnaw: see rodent .] I. trans. 1. Το gnaw or eat into or away; corrode. It hath been anciently received, that the sea-air hath an antipathy with the lungs if it cometh near the body, and erodeth them. Bacon, Nat. Hist., § 983. The blood, being too sharp or thin, erodes the ve els. Wiseman , Surgery. Hence-2. To wear away, as if by gnawing: specifically used in geology of the action of water, etc., in wearing down the earth's sur face. When this change began, it caused a decreasing river slope in the northern portions, and a diminishing power to erode. Science, III. 57.