ETYM Cf. Minx.
1. A coat made from the soft lustrous fur of minks; SYN. mink coat.
2. Slender-bodied semiaquatic mammal having partially webbed feet; valued for its fur.
3. The expensive fur of a mink.
Two species of carnivores of the weasel family, genus Mustela, usually found in or near water. They have rich, brown fur, and are up to 50 cm/1.6 ft long with bushy tails 20 cm/8 in long. They live in Eurasia (M. lutreola) and North America (M. vison).
They produce an annual litter of six in their riverbank burrows. The demand for their fur led to the establishment from the 1930s of mink ranches for breeding of the animals in a wide range of fur colors.