*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of stoat

From Middle English stote (“the ermine, especially in its brown summer coat”), of uncertain origin. The word bears some resemblance to Old Norse stutr (“bull”), Swedish stut (“bull, steer”) and Danish stud (“steer”) (see

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

INDEPENDENT SOURCE LIBRARY

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Chambers (1908)

1908
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In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

Mustela erminea, the ermine or short-tailed weasel, a mustelid native to Eurasia and North America, distinguished from the least weasel by its larger size and longer tail with a prominent black tip.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English stote (“the ermine, especially in its brown summer coat”), of uncertain origin. The word bears some resemblance to Old Norse stutr (“bull”), Swedish stut (“bull, steer”) and Danish stud (“steer”) (see also English stot), but the semantic link is difficult unless a common origin is from “(brown?) male mammal”. First attested in the mid 1400s.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionstoteenm
  • Cognate mentionstutrnon
  • Cognate mentionstutsv
  • Cognate mentionstudda
  • Cognate mentionstoten
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "stote",
        "4": "",
        "5": "the ermine, especially in its brown summer coat"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English stote (“the ermine, especially in its brown summer coat”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "unc",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "uncertain"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "stutr",
        "3": "",
        "4": "bull"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse stutr (“bull”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "stut",
        "3": "",
        "4": "bull, steer"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish stut (“bull, steer”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "stud",
        "3": "",
        "4": "steer"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish stud (“steer”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "stot"
      },
      "expansion": "English stot"
    },
    {
      "name": "etydate",
      "args": {
        "1": "mid 1400s"
      },
      "expansion": "First attested in the mid 1400s"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "stote",
      "stote#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "stutr",
      "stutr#Old_Norse"
    ],
    [
      "stut",
      "stut#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "steer",
      "steer"
    ],
    [
      "stud",
      "stud#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "stot",
      "stot#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Mustela erminea, the ermine or short-tailed weasel, a mustelid native to Eurasia and North America, distinguished from the least weasel by its larger size and longer tail with a prominent black tip."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "4d99b85bf68713d90152689f3302101a27597ab14e1a25446de8b5a9de37c50e",
      "rawRecordSha256": "bd373c43d508f37181256ff7bb504e460b95216f1fd51ef8baf076bd09523ce4",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 37266
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
verb

To stitch (edges of relatively thick cloth, fur, etc, for example on either side of a join or tear) together in a way that is invisible from the 'front', by sewing part of the way into and then back out of the thickness of the material from the 'back' side (without the thread going all the way through to the 'front' side of the material).

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Unclear. Attested in the spellings stott, stot, stote and stoat, all said (in early texts) to be pronounced the same as stoat. Possibly related to the animal stoat whose fur is used in making garments, or to stot(t) (“bounce, rebound”) as the stitch 'rebounds' off and does not pass through to the other side of the material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [],
  "links": [
    [
      "stot(t)",
      "stot#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To stitch (edges of relatively thick cloth, fur, etc, for example on either side of a join or tear) together in a way that is invisible from the 'front', by sewing part of the way into and then back out of the thickness of the material from the 'back' side (without the thread going all the way through to the 'front' side of the material)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ],
      "recordId": "0ea91707da94f17559c692cc8b7681cfbc0cd9e4acbd9de876330a1bb92c8ab3",
      "rawRecordSha256": "146ba1b8668cc298d64f03650a555a1efa0ac3fc8ab07f93e9c6818fec46f648",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 37267
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for stoat →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-c3RvYXQ