Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “sable” come from?

Sable comes from Old French sable, from Late Latin sablum, from Latin sabulo, meaning sand or gravel.

sable (English): A small carnivorous mammal of the Old World that...

Definitions

  1. A small carnivorous mammal of the Old World that...

Ancestry of “sable”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchsablesable
2Late Latinsablum—
3Latinsabulocoarse sand, gravel

Words derived from “sable”

  • sablefish
  • sably
  • sableness
  • sables
Every word from Latin sabulo →