[Middle English ermin, from Old French ermine, hermine, possibly of Germanic origin (compare Old High German harmīn, of ermine, from harmo, ermine; akin to Lithuanian šarma, hoarfrost, and šermuo, šarmuo, ermine (the ermine being the animal with the "snowy" white coat)) or from Latin Armenius, Armenian (from the medieval belief that ermine pelts came from Armenia and were obtained from a furry animal that Pliny the Elder called in Latin mūs Pontica, literally "Pontic mouse," once thought to be the ermine).]