plumage

From Old French plumage (14c.), itself from plume (“feather”) (from Latin plūma (“feather, down”), from a Proto-Indo-European base *plews- (“to pluck, a feather, fleece”) + -age.

• (UK) enPR: plo͞om'ĭj, IPA^(key): /ˈpluːmɪd͡ʒ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (obsolete) enPR: plyo͞om'ĭj, IPA^(key): /ˈpljuːmɪd͡ʒ/
• Rhymes: -uːmɪdʒ

plumage (countable and uncountable, plural plumages)

1. (ornithology, collective noun) Layer or collection of feathers covering a bird’s body; feathers used ornamentally; feathering.

   Synonym: (obsolete) pennage

   • 1969, Monty Python, “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”, in Dead Parrot sketch:

     [Owner]: No no he's not dead, he's, he's restin'! Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue, idn'it, ay? Beautiful plumage!
     [Mr. Praline]: The plumage don't enter into it. It's stone dead.

2. Finery or elaborate dress.

• IPA^(key): /ply.maʒ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aʒ

plumage m (plural plumages)

1. (ornithology, collective noun) plumage (a bird's feathers, collectively speaking)

   Synonyms: (falconry) pennage, plumée

• “plumage”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.