raised to the ermine

Verb

raise to the ermine (third-person singular simple present raises to the ermine, present participle raising to the ermine, simple past and past participle raised to the ermine)

1. (Commonwealth) To ennoble; to appoint someone to the House of Lords or the judiciary.
   • THE Times, in a late article on the judicial system, in reference to the objection that, 'by multiplying judicial officers an inferior order of men must be raised to the ermine,' remarked that, if fifty years ago it was easy to select fifteen judges from the mass of practising barristers, it ought...1879, The Law Journal, page 111