Ermine is the luxurious white winter fur of a small weasel called a stoat, and also the name for the animal itself when it's wearing this white coat. In summer, stoats have brown fur that helps them blend into forests and fields, but when winter arrives in cold climates, their coats turn pure white with black-tipped tails, camouflaging them perfectly against snow.

For centuries, ermine fur was so prized that only royalty and nobles could wear it. Kings and queens lined their robes with ermine, and you'll see it in old paintings: those white robes dotted with little black spots. The black spots come from the tail tips, which furriers arranged in patterns. Ermine became a symbol of royalty itself, appearing on coats of arms and ceremonial clothing.

The stoat hunts mice, voles, and rabbits with remarkable speed and courage, sometimes taking down prey larger than itself. These fierce little hunters live across northern regions of Europe, Asia, and North America. Today, real ermine is rarely used, and the word often refers to imitation fur that recreates that distinctive white-with-black-spots pattern, keeping the historical association with elegance and nobility without harming animals.