panache

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   flamboyant confidence of style or manner

   She delivered the closing speech with remarkable panache.

Simplified etymology

Panache originally denoted the plume of feathers worn on a soldier’s helmet. It ultimately goes back to Latin pinnaculum, “little feather,” from pinna, “feather,” “wing,” or “pointed peak.” The plume’s association with stylish display and swagger produced the modern sense “flamboyant confidence” in the late 19th century.

From French panache 'plume, tuft of feathers', from Italian pennacchio, from Late Latin pinnaculum 'small wing, peak', diminutive of Latin pinna 'feather, wing'. The figurative sense of flamboyant manner arose from the conspicuous plume worn on a helmet.

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