## Meanings
1. A large, showy feather, often used as a decoration.
2. A rising cloud of smoke, dust, or similar that spreads as it goes up.
3. To feel very proud of oneself, often over something small.

## Examples
- The hat was topped with a bright ostrich plume.
- A thick plume of smoke rose from the burning factory.
- He plumed himself on winning a game that hardly mattered.

## Derived Forms
- antiplume
- displume
- emplume
- interplume
- megaplume
- nom-de-plume
- plume-holder
- plumebird
- plumed
- plumeless
- plumelet
- plumelike

## Related Forms
- aigrette
- plumage
- plumaged

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: plumer
- Root: plūmāre
- Root: plumen

## Etymology
Sense 1 (“to adorn, cover, or furnish with feathers or plumes”) is derived from Anglo-Norman plumer (“to cover with or provide with feathers”), or its etymon Latin plūmāre, the present active infinitive of plūmō (“to grow feathers, to fledge; to cover with feathers, to feather; to embroider with a feathery pattern”) (and compare Late Latin plūmō (“to attach feathers to arrows; of a hawk: to pluck the feathers from prey; (figurative) to celebrate, praise”)), from plūma (“feather; plumage; down”) (see etymology 1) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs). Senses 2–4 (“to arrange and…

## AI Etymology
Plume has separate etymological notes: Sense 1 (“to adorn, cover, or furnish with feathers or plumes”) is derived from Anglo-Norman plumer (“to cover with or provide with feathers”), or its etymon Latin plūmāre, the present active infinitive of plūmō (“to grow feathers, to fledge; to cover with feathers, to feather; to embroider with a feathery pattern”) (and compare Late Latin plūmō (“to attach feathers to arrows; of a hawk: to pluck the feathers from prey; (figurative) to celebrate, praise”)), from plūma (“feather; plumage; down”) (see etymology 1) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs). Senses 2–4 (“to arrange and… The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern nominal form is built from the named base and affix. Important recorded forms include plumer (xno), plūmāre (Latin), and plumen (Middle English). Current senses include a large, showy feather, often used as a decoration, a rising cloud of smoke, dust, or similar that spreads as it goes up, and to feel very proud of oneself, often over something small. The wider family includes derived forms such as antiplume, displume, emplume, interplume, and megaplume and related words such as aigrette, plumage, and plumaged.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

markdown

plume

Meanings

Thesaurus

Etymology

Topics

External links

Keyboard Shortcuts

General

Send feedback