sable \sa"ble\, a.
   of the color of the sable's fur; dark; black; -- used chiefly
   in poetry.
   1913 webster

         night, sable goddess from her ebon throne,
         in rayless majesty, now stretches forth
         her leaden scepter o'er a slumbering world. --young.
   1913 webster

   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.
      1913 webster
see also:
sable antelope hippotragus niger sable iron sable mouse 

sable \sa"ble\, v. t. imp.  p. p. sabled; p. pr.  vb. n.
   sabling.
   to render sable or dark; to drape darkly or in black.
   1913 webster

         sabled all in black the shady sky.       --g. fletcher.
   1913 webster
see also:
sabled sabling 

sable \sa"ble\, n. of. sable, f. zibeline sable in sense 4,
   ll. sabellum; cf. d. sabel, dan. sabel, zobel, sw. sabel,
   sobel, g. zobel; all fr. russ. s'obole.
   1. 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.
      1913 webster

   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.
         1913 webster

   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.
         1913 webster

   2. the fur of the sable.
      1913 webster

   3. a mourning garment; a funeral robe; -- generally in the
      plural. "sables wove by destiny." --young.
      1913 webster

   4. her. the tincture black; -- represented by vertical and
      horizontal lines crossing each other.
      1913 webster
see also:
mustela zibellina mustela americana 

marten \mar"ten\, n. from older martern, marter, martre, f.
   martre, marte, ll. martures pl., fr. l. martes; akin to as.
   meareth, meard, g. marder, ohg. mardar, icel. m"orethr.
   cf. foumart.
   1. zool. any one of several fur-bearing carnivores of the
      genus martes formerly mustela, closely allied to the
      sable. among the more important species are the european
      beech marten or stone marten martes foina; the
      pine marten martes martes; and the american
      marten, or sable martes americana, which some
      zoologists consider only a variety of the russian sable.
      1913 webster +pjc

   2. the fur of the marten, used for hats, muffs, etc.
      1913 webster
see also:
foumart martes mustela beech marten stone marten martes foina 
pine marten martes martes american marten sable martes americana 

sable
     adj : dark somewhat brownish black
     n 1: an artist's brush made of sable hair syn: sable brush, sable's
          hair pencil
     2: the expensive dark brown fur of the marten
     3: a very dark black syn: coal black, ebony, jet black,
        pitch black, soot black
     4: a scarf or trimming made of sable
     5: marten of northern asian forests having luxuriant dark brown
        fur syn: martes zibellina
see also:
sable brush sable's hair pencil coal black ebony jet black pitch black 
soot black martes zibellina 

146 moby thesaurus words for "sable":
   achievement, alerion, animal charge, annulet, argent,
   armorial bearings, armory, arms, atramentous, azure, bandeau, bar,
   bar sinister, baton, bearings, bend, bend sinister, billet, black,
   black as coal, black as ebony, black as ink, black as midnight,
   black as night, black race, blackness, blazon, blazonry, bordure,
   broad arrow, cadency mark, canton, chaplet, charge, chevron, chief,
   coal-black, coaly, coat of arms, cockatrice, coronet, crescent,
   crest, cross, cross moline, crown, dark, dark as night,
   dark as pitch, darkness, deep black, device, difference,
   differencing, dusky, eagle, ebon, ebony, ermine, ermines,
   erminites, erminois, escutcheon, falcon, fess, fess point, field,
   file, flanch, fleur-de-lis, fret, fur, fusil, garland, gloomy,
   griffin, gules, gyron, hatchment, helmet, heraldic device,
   honor point, impalement, impaling, inescutcheon, ink-black,
   inkiness, inky, jet, jetty, label, lion, lozenge, mantling,
   marshaling, martlet, mascle, melanism, metal, midnight, motto,
   mullet, murky, night-black, night-dark, nigrescence, nigritude,
   nigrous, nombril point, octofoil, or, ordinary, orle, pale, paly,
   pean, pheon, pitch-black, pitch-dark, pitchy, purpure, quarter,
   quartering, raven, raven-black, rose, saltire, scutcheon, shield,
   sloe, sloe-black, sloe-colored, somber, spread eagle, subordinary,
   tar-black, tarry, tenne, tincture, torse, tressure, unicorn, vair,
   vert, wreath, yale