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Origin and history of mustelid

mustelid(n.)

"animal of the family of mammals that includes the weasels, badgers, skunks, and otters," 1910, from Modern Latin Mustelidae, taken as a genus name by Linnaeus (1758), from Latin mustela "weasel," which is possibly a diminutive form from mus "mouse" (see mouse (n.)), a theory accepted by de Vaan, who writes, "The use of the dim. for the weasel can be due to its small size compared with other similar animals (marten, polecat) or because it was domesticated and used as a pet animal." Tucker tentatively suggests *mus-ters-la "mouse harrier," and Klein notes that the weasel was identified in antiquity as "the catcher of mice."

also from 1910

Entries linking to mustelid

mouse(n.)

Middle English mous, from Old English mus "small rodent," also "muscle of the arm" (compare muscle (n.)); from Proto-Germanic *mus (source also of Old Norse, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch, Danish, Swedish mus, Dutch muis, German Maus "mouse").

This is from PIE *mus-, the old Indo-European name of the creature, retained in several language families (source also of Sanskrit mus "mouse, rat," Old Persian mush "mouse," Old Church Slavonic mysu, Latin mus, Lithuanian muse "mouse," Greek mys "mouse, muscle").

Plural form mice (Old English mys) shows effects of i-mutation. As a type of something timid or weak, from late 14c. Contrasted with man (n.) from 1620s (nor man nor mouse).

The meaning "black eye" (or other discolored lump on the body) is attested by 1842. The computer sense of "small device moved by the hand over a flat surface to maneuver a cursor or arrow on a display screen" is from 1965, though the word has been applied to other devices resembling a mouse in shape since 1750, mainly in nautical use.

Parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus [Horace]
musteline(adj.)

"weasel-like; pertaining to weasels," 1650s, from Latin mustelinus "of or belonging to weasels," from mustela; see mustelid + -ine (1).

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    ferret
    late 14c., from Old French furet "ferret," diminutive of fuiron "weasel, ferret," literally "thief" (in allusion to the animal's slyness and craftiness), probably from Late Latin furionem (related to furonem "cat," which also meant "robber"), from Latin fur (genitive furis) "thie
    badger
    type of low, nocturnal, burrowing, carnivorous animal, 1520s, perhaps from bage "badge" (see badge) + reduced form of -ard "one who carries some action or possesses some quality," suffix related to Middle High German -hart "bold" (see -ard). If so, the central notion is the badge
    polecat
    "small, dark-brown, northern European predatory quadruped of the weasel family," noted as a chicken-thief and for its strong, offensive smell, early 14c., pol-cat, from cat (n.); the first element is perhaps Anglo-French pol, from Old French poule "fowl, hen" (see pullet (n.)); s
    mink
    early 15c., "skin or fur of the (European) mink," from a Scandinavian source (compare Swedish menk "a stinking animal in Finland"). Applied in English to the animal itself from 1620s, and extended to the related (but larger) animal of North America by Capt. John Smith (1624). Rel
    otter
    aquatic digitigrade carnivorous mammal, hunted for its fur, Middle English oter, from Old English otr, otor "otter," from Proto-Germanic *otraz "otter" (source also of Old Norse otr, Swedish utter, Danish odder, Dutch otter, Old High German ottar, German Otter), from PIE *udros,
    marten
    agile, short-legged, bushy-tailed, medium-sized carnivorous mammal in the weasel family, largely nocturnal and found in forests across the colder parts of the northern hemisphere, c. 1300, martrin, "skin or fur of the marten," from Old French martrine "marten fur," noun use of fe
    weasel
    Old English weosule, wesle "weasel," from Proto-Germanic *wisulon (source also of Old Norse visla, Middle Dutch wesel, Dutch wezel, Old High German wisula, German Wiesel), probably related to Proto-Germanic *wisand- "bison" (see bison), with a base sense of "stinking animal," bec
    glutton
    "one who eats and drinks to excess," early 13c., from Old French gloton "glutton;" also "scoundrel," a general term of abuse (Modern French glouton), from Latin gluttonem (nominative glutto) "overeater," which is related to gluttire "to swallow," gula "throat" (see gullet). Gener
    mammal
    "an animal of the class Mammalia; an animal that suckles its young," 1826, Englished form of Modern Latin Mammalia (1773), coined 1758 by Linnaeus for that class of animals from neuter plural of Late Latin mammalis "of the breast," from Latin mamma "breast," which is cognate with
    contrast
    1690s, "to set in opposition with a view to show the differences; to stand in opposition or contrast; to set off (each other) by contrast," from French contraster (Old French contrester), modified by or from Italian contrastare "stand out against, strive, contend," from Vulgar La

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