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In this Adventure in Etymology we investigate the word feather.
A feather [ˈfɛð.ə(ɹ) / ˈfɛð.ɚ] is:
- A branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds, used for flight, swimming, protection and display.
- Long hair on the lower legs of a dog or horse, especially a draft horse.
[other meanings are available]
It comes from Middle English feþer (feather), from Old English feþer (feather, pen), from Proto-West Germanic *feþru (feather, wing), from Proto-Germanic *feþrō (feather), from Proto-Indo-European *péth₂r̥ (feather, wing), from *peth₂- (to fly, to spread out) [source].
Words from the same Proto-Germanic roots include veer (feather, plume) and vlerk (wing, scoundrel) in Dutch, Feder (feather, spring, nib, penholder, fountain pen) and Gefieder (plumage) in German, and federa (pillowcase) in Italian (via Lombardic fedeara (feather)) [source].
By the way, the Swiss tennis player Roger Federer gets his surname from the Swiss German word Federer, which means ‘one who works with or trades in quills’, which are traditionally made from feathers [source]
Other words from the same Proto-Indo-European roots include πτηνό (ptinó – bird) in Greek, पत्र (patra – letter, paper, document, leaf) in Hindi, adar (birds) and adain (wing, fin) in Welsh, and appetite, petal, petition and fathom in English [source].
Incidentally, the word heliocopter also comes from the same roots, via French hélicoptère (helicopter), which comes from Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (hélix – spiral) & πτερόν (pterón – feather, wing) – at least the -pter part does – see also pterodactyl (“winged finger”) [source].
Can anybody identify which birds the feathers in the photo at the top of this post come from? I found them in my garden.
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I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur blog.
