Etymology

mink

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Today it means: Any semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammal in the Mustelinae subfamily, similar to weasels, with dark fur, native to Europe and America, of which two species in different genera are extant: the American mink (Neogale vison) and the European mink (Mustela lutreola). Full definition →

Middle English mynk ← Swedish mink, mänk, menk
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The story

  1. Swedish · derived frommink, mänk, menk“stinking animal in Finland, mink”
  2. Middle English · inherited frommynk“fur of the European mink”
  3. English todaymink

From Late Middle English mynk (“fur of the European mink”), apparently from Swedish mink, mänk, menk (“stinking animal in Finland, mink”). Compare Danish mink (“mink”), Icelandic minkur (“mink”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.