feather
nounUK /ˈfɛðə/ · US /ˈfɛðɚ/
Etymology
From Middle English fethere, from Old English feþer, from Proto-West Germanic *feþru, from Proto-Germanic *feþrō, from Proto-Indo-European *péth₂r̥ (“feather, wing”), from *peth₂- (“to fly”). Cognate with West Frisian fear (“feather”), Cimbrian bèdara, fòdara (“pillowcase”), vèdara (“feather”), Dutch veder, veer (“feather”), German Feder (“feather”), German Low German Fedder (“feather”), Luxembourgish Fieder (“feather”), Vilamovian faoder (“feather”), Yiddish פֿעדער (feder, “feather”), Danish fjeder, fjer (“feather”), Faroese fjøður (“feather”), Icelandic fjöður (“feather”), Norwegian Bokmål fjær, fjør (“feather”), Norwegian Nynorsk fjøder, fjør (“feather”), Swedish fjäder (“feather”). Also Ancient Greek πέτομαι (pétomai, “to fly”), Albanian shpend (“bird”), Latin penna (“feather”), Old Armenian թիռ (tʻiṙ, “flight”). The sense correlated with splines and keys (noun sense 4) probably reflects analogy with the fletching sense (noun sense 3).
11 senses
- 1A branching, hair-like structure that grows on the…
- 2Long hair on the lower legs of a dog or horse…
- 3One of the fins or wings on the shaft of an arrow.
- 4A longitudinal strip projecting from an object to…
- 5Kind; nature; species (from the proverbial phrase "birds…
- 6One of the two shims of the three-piece stone-splitting…
- 7The angular adjustment of an oar or paddle-wheel float…
- 8Anything petty or trifling; a whit or jot.
- 9Partridges and pheasants, as opposed to rabbits and…
- 10A junction indicator attached to a colour-light signal…
- 11A faint edge.
A branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds, used for flight, swimming, protection and display.
- Notice, too, that the shaft is not straight, but bent so that the upper surface of the feather is convex, and the lower concave.1873, W. K. Brooks, “A Feather”, in Popular Science Monthly, volume IV, page 687:
- Big fellows they were, all of them, their barbaric headdresses and grotesquely painted faces, together with their many metal ornaments and gorgeously coloured feathers, adding to their wild, fierce appearance.1914, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter V, in The Beasts of Tarzan:
1 more example
- Nesting birds pluck some of their own feathers to line the nest, but feather plucking in pet birds is entirely different.2000, C. J. Puotinen, The Encyclopedia of Natural Pet Care, page 362:
Long hair on the lower legs of a dog or horse, especially a draft horse, notably the Clydesdale breed. Narrowly only the rear hair.
One of the fins or wings on the shaft of an arrow.
A longitudinal strip projecting from an object to strengthen it, or to enter a channel in another object and thereby prevent displacement sideways or rotationally but permit motion lengthwise.
- Near-synonym: spline
Kind; nature; species (from the proverbial phrase "birds of a feather").
- I am not of that feather to shake off / My friend when he must need me.c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
One of the two shims of the three-piece stone-splitting tool known as plug and feather or plug and feathers; the feathers are placed in a borehole and then a wedge is driven between them, causing the stone to split.
The angular adjustment of an oar or paddle-wheel float, with reference to a horizontal axis, as it leaves or enters the water.
Anything petty or trifling; a whit or jot.
- To some pew purchasers he gave deeds, to others he gave, none, but both were promised security, and both it seems were equally secure, for the pew deed as Mr. Melledge declared to Mr. G. was not worth a feather.1823, An Ecclesiastical Memoir of Essex Street Religious Society:
Hobbies, Hunting, Lifestyle In plural Partridges and pheasants, as opposed to rabbits and hares (called fur).
Rail transport, Railways, Transport A junction indicator attached to a colour-light signal at an angle, which lights up, typically with four white lights in a row, when a diverging route is set up.
- Signal M123 is a conventional 3-aspect colour light with three Junction Indicators - commonly known as 'feathers'.2020 December 30, David Allen, “Unusual signals...: Morpeth Signal M123”, in Rail, page 64:
Ball games, Cricket, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A faint edge.
- Derived terms
131 terms
afterfeather, beak and feather disease, beam feather, befeather, birds of a feather, blood feather, cock feather, cock-feather, contour feather, cut a feather, defeather, dot or feather, down feather, featherable, feather alum, featherback, featherbedding, feather bed, featherbed, feather-bed, feather boa, featherbone, feather-brained, featherbrained, featherbrain, feather-brain, feather Christmas tree, feathercoat, featherdom, featherdown, feather-dust, feather duster, feather duster worm, feather edge, feather edger, featherer, featherfoil, featherfoot, feather grass, feather-grass, feathergrass, featherhead, feather-headed, feather-heeled, featherily, featheriness, feathering float, feathering screw, feathering strip, feathering wheel, feather in one's cap, feather in one's hat, featherleaf, feather-legged bug, featherless, featherlet, featherlight, feather-light, featherlike, featherly, feathermaker, feather merchant, feathermonger, feathermoss, feathern, feather ore, feather oyster, feather palm, featherpate, featherpated, feather pen, feather shot, feathersome, feather spray, feather star, feather stick, featherstitch, feathertail, feather-tailed glider, feather-tailed possum, feather tree, feather-veined, featherweed, featherweight, featherwise, featherwood, feather wool, featherwork, feathery, fine feathers make fine birds, flight feather, gayfeather, horsefeathers, ice feather, Indian feather moss, in fine feather, in full feather, in high feather, knock one over with a feather, knock someone down with a feather, knock someone over with a feather, light as a feather, make the feathers fly, Mexican feather grass, midfeather, of a feather, parrotfeather, parrot's-feather, pennaceous feather, pin feather, pinfeather, plug and feather, powder-down feather, prince's feather, princess-feather, protofeather, quill feather, rosy feather star, ruffle a few feathers, ruffle some feathers, saddle feather, sea feather, secondary feather, show the white feather, spit feathers, swine's feather, tailfeather, tar-and-feather, the feathers fly, unfeather, watch the feathers fly- Related terms
- fletchings