ermine

noun (plural same or ermines)

• 1a stoat, especially when in its white winter coat.
• [mass noun] the white fur of the stoat, used for trimming garments, especially the ceremonial robes of judges or peers: the men were dressed in costly ermine and sable-edged cloaks
• [mass noun] Heraldry fur represented as black spots on a white ground, as a heraldic tincture: [postpositive]:on a canton ermine a lion rampant sable

• 2 (also ermine moth) a stout-bodied moth that has cream or white wings with black spots.

  • Genus Spilosoma, family Arctiidae: several species