plume

Meaning

Noun

1. (archaic, literary, poetic) A feather of a bird, especially a large or showy one used as a decoration.
2. (archaic, literary, poetic) A cluster of feathers worn as an ornament, especially on a helmet; a hackle.
3. (figuratively) A token of honour or prowess; that on which one prides oneself; a prize or reward.
4. The vane (“flattened, web-like part”) of a feather, especially when on a quill pen or the fletching of an arrow.
5. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis) Ellipsis of plume moth (“a small, slender moth of the family Pterophoridae”).
6. Things resembling a feather.
7. Things resembling a feather.
8. Things resembling a feather.
9. Things resembling a feather.
10. Things resembling a feather.
11. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis) Things resembling a feather.
12. Things resembling a feather.
13. Things resembling a feather.

Verb

1. (also, figuratively, transitive) To adorn, cover, or furnish with feathers or plumes, or as if with feathers or plumes.
2. (reflexive, transitive) Chiefly of a bird: to arrange and preen the feathers of, specifically in preparation for flight; hence (figurative), to prepare for (something).
3. (broadly, reflexive, transitive) To congratulate (oneself) proudly, especially concerning something unimportant or when taking credit for another person's effort; to self-congratulate; to preen.
4. (archaic, transitive) To strip (a bird) of feathers; to pluck.
5. (archaic, broadly, transitive) To strip (a bird) of feathers; to pluck.
6. (archaic, obsolete, transitive) To strip (a bird) of feathers; to pluck.
7. (intransitive) Of a dispersed substance such as dust or smoke: to fan out or spread in a cloud.

Synonyms

feather

🪶

preen

plumage

crest

quill

aigrette

dress

👗

pride

wing

🪽

panache

pluck

rob

overcharge

surcharge

gazump

primp

down

soak

column

hook

🪝

congratulate

fleece

pile

pillar

pinion

pole

post

rake

reek

rod

ruff

schlep

self-satisfaction

smoke

stalk

statue

shlep

triumph

😤

tuft

tug

upright

wrench

🔧

wring

quill feather

spruce up

contour feather

trabecula

mantle plume

sediment plume

arrange feathers

Translations

panache

plume

🪶

pluma

🪶

piuma

🪶

penacho

pluim

penna

🪶

tüy

φτερό

pluma

penacho

plumet

plomall

pennacchio

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈpluːm/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: plum

Cognate with French: plume

Inherited from Middle English: plumen

In summary

From Late Middle English plum, plume (“feather; plumage”), from Anglo-Norman plum, plume f and Middle French, Old French plume f, plome (“plumage; down used for stuffing pillows, etc.; pen, quill”) (modern French plume f (“feather; pen, quill; pen nib; (figurative) writer”)), and directly from its etymon Latin plūma f (“feather; plumage; down”) (compare Late Latin plūma f (“pen, quill”)), from Proto-Italic *plouksmā, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to fly; to flow; to run; to flap with hands; to splash”).
The English word is a doublet of pluma.