letticen.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman letuce, letuse and Middle French letice, lettice, letise, letisse whitish fur (end of the 13th cent. in Old French, although possible earlier currency is suggested by the post-classical Latin word cited below; French (now regional: Normandy) laitisse, létice stoat ( Mustela erminea) in its winter coat, ermine); further origin uncertain and disputed. Compare Old Occitan latissa stoat (in its winter coat), ermine, also the fur of this animal (1397), Italian †lattizio, †lattizzo, †lattisso stoat (in its winter coat), ermine, also the fur of this animal (a1374), post-classical Latin leticia (1220, 1230 in British sources).One etymological suggestion derives the French noun < Middle High German eltes , iltis polecat (Old High German illitiso , glossing classical Latin hyæna hyena n.; German Iltis ), of unknown origin. This is implausible, since the dark fur of the European polecat does not turn white or whitish even in winter; moreover, there is no evidence for a German transmission of the French noun. Another (see Französisches etymol. Wörterbuch at lac) takes the word as a derivative < lait milk (first half of the 12th cent.; < classical Latin lact- , lac : see lacto- comb. form), with reference to the colour of the animal's fur resembling that of milk. However, in this case, the identity of the suffix involved is uncertain; moreover, the colour of the ermine is not compared to that of milk in medieval French texts. Since the apparently earliest attestation of the French noun occurs in a text from Bruges and denotes a fur imported from Bulgaria, it is possible that the word is ultimately of Slavonic origin, although if so the precise donor language is difficult to ascertain. Compare Middle Low German lasten , lastken , lasken , plural nouns, Middle High German lassāt , lasset , both in sense ‘whitish fur of a kind of weasel or related animal’, both probably < Old Russian lastka , laska (although this is not recorded in dictionaries of the language until much later: 16th cent.; Russian laska , (now regional: Siberia) lastka ). Like other names of furs, e.g. German Juchten , †Juften yuft n., these Germanic words probably entered the respective languages via the Hanse's extensive trade with Eastern European countries, among them Russia. If the Old Russian word is the ultimate source of the French (and hence the English) word, it probably shows consonantal metathesis. It is unclear whether the following earlier quots. are to be taken as showing the French or the Older Scots word in a Latin context:1368 in J. Stuart & G. Burnett Exchequer Rolls Scotl. (1878) II. 300 Pro vna timbra de letys, empta..ad vsum domine regine..xl s.1374 in J. Stuart & G. Burnett Exchequer Rolls Scotl. (1878) II. 444 In empcione trium timbrarum de letysses cum dimidio, et septem letisses varii precii.