marten

UK: /ˈmɑːtɪn/ US: /ˈmɑrtən/ ,(mär′tn)

Inflections of 'marten' (n):

martens

npl (All usages)

marten

npl (Can be used as a collective plural—e.g. "Marten often live in trees.")

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

mar•ten /ˈmɑrtən/   n., pl. -tens, (esp. when thought of as a group) -ten. 

1. Mammals [countable] a mainly tree-dwelling animal of the weasel family.
2. Clothing [uncountable] the fur of such an animal.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

mar•ten  (mär′tn), n., pl. -tens, (esp. collectively) -ten. 

1. Mammals any of several slender, chiefly arboreal carnivores of the genus Martes, of northern forests, having a long, glossy coat and bushy tail.
2. Clothing the fur of such an animal, generally a dark brown.

• Gmc; compare German Marder) + -in -in¹
• Middle French martrine marten fur, noun, nominal use of feminine of martrin pertaining to a marten, equivalent. to martre marten (
• Middle Low German, equivalent. to mart marten (cognate with Old English mearth) + -en -en⁵; replacing late Middle English martren
• 1375–1425

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

marten / ˈmɑːtɪn/ noun ( -tens, -ten)

1. any of several agile arboreal musteline mammals of the genus Martes, of Europe, Asia, and North America, having bushy tails and golden brown to blackish fur
   See also pine marten
2. the highly valued fur of these animals, esp that of M. americana

See also sable1Etymology: 15th Century: from Middle Dutch martren, from Old French (peau) martrine skin of a marten, from martre, probably of Germanic origin