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): /ˈpluːmɪdʒ/
• 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.
   • 1969, Monty Python, "Monty Python’s Flying Circus" (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.

• pennage (obsolete)

• deplume
• plumate
• plume
• plumelet
• plumose
• plumule
• plumy

• IPA^(key): /ply.maʒ/

• Audio

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plumage m (plural plumages)

1. (ornithologie, nom collectif) plumage (a bird's feathers, collectively speaking)

• pennage (falconry)
• plumée

• déplumer
• emplumer
• plumaison, plumée (déplumage)
• plumer

• “plumage” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).