ferret

Etymology 1

From Middle English furet, ferret, from Old French furet, from Vulgar Latin *furittum (“weasel, ferret”), diminutive of Latin fūr (“thief”).

noun

1. An often domesticated mammal (Mustela putorius furo) rather like a weasel, descended from the polecat and often trained to hunt burrowing animals.
2. The black-footed ferret, Mustela nigripes.
3. (figurative) A diligent searcher.
   The most challenging documentary discoveries were made by a tenacious archival ferret, Dr Antonio Bertoletti. In 1879 he published his findings in a slim, refreshingly dry volume, Francesco Cenci e la sua Famiglia. July 2 1998, Charles Nicholl, “Screaming in the Castle”, in London Review of Books, volume XX, number 13

verb

1. To hunt game with ferrets.
2. (by extension, transitive, intransitive) To uncover and bring to light by searching; usually to ferret out.
   I confess that we were so unpopular with the outrageous mob, that I only got away from England at the risk of being ducked to death, and that Cly was so ferreted up and down, that he never would have got away at all but for that sham. 1859, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
   He had been piqued by the failure of all his endeavors to ferret out the assassins. 1842, Edgar Alan Poe, The Mistery of Marie Roget
   She ferreted in her bag; then held it up mouth downwards; then fumbled in her lap, all so vigorously that Charles Steele in the Panama hat suspended his paint-brush. 1922, Virginia Woolf, chapter 1, in Jacob's Room

Etymology 2

Italian fioretto

noun

1. (dated) A tape of silk, cotton, or ribbon, used to tie documents, clothing, etc. or along the edge of fabric.