Fitch Meaning
/fˈɪtʃ/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA polecat, such as the European polecat (Mustela putorius), the striped polecat, steppe polecat, or black-footed polecat of America.
nounA skin of a polecat.
Sentence Examples
The rare fitch was a prized fur.
The coat was made from expensive fitch.
The artist preferred using a fitch brush for detailed work.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The artist used a fine ____ brush to add delicate details to the portrait.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In some older brush classifications, a ____ refers to a type of small, round, pointed artist's brush.
Word Origin & History
Shortening of fitchew, or directly borrowed from its antecedent, Middle Dutch vitsche (“polecat”). More at fitchew.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The more beautiful of the two comes from a North American species, the black-footed pole-cat (No. 3), which is creamy yellow, sprinkled with black. Made-up skins of this species are sold as "natural fitch" to distinguish them from those of the common fitch, which are generally dyed. The finest skins of this pole-cat, now nearly extinct in Great Britain, are procured from the colder parts of Russia and Siberia."
— 1914, Herbert Greenhough Smith, The Strand Magazine, page 510:
"Not only as it been quite difficult to eliminate the yellow tinge from the dyed fur, but practically every fur dyer has had to admit his inability to make the dyed fitch permanent in color or prevent it from very quickly turning or fading to a sickening shade of red […]"
— 1922, American Furrier, page 23:
"Putorius eversmanni michnoi Kastsch, Transbaikalian steppe fitch. No specimens were collected by the Expedition, but a single skull of an adult male was received from a Russian trapper who secured it during the past[…]"
— 1936, Journal of Mammalogy, volumes 17-18, page 327:
"Striped fitch has coarser hair and is not so valuable."
— 1948, Kay Hardy, Costume Design:
"For those who cannot afford the luxury of real fur, the most picturesque and delightful substitute is offered in stoles and muffs made up of plush-pony skin trimmed with a piece of natural fitch set slant-ways across the front of the muff […]"
— 1914, Ford Madox Ford, The English Review:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The artist used a fine ____ brush to add delicate details to the portrait.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In some older brush classifications, a ____ refers to a type of small, round, pointed artist's brush.