Plume Meaning
/ˈpluːm/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA feather of a bird, especially a large or showy one used as a decoration.
nounA cluster of feathers worn as an ornament, especially on a helmet; a hackle.
Sentence Examples
Follow my white plume!
There was a plume of smoke coming from the shack.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The volcano erupted, sending a thick ____ of ash high into the sky.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A thick ____ of smoke rose from the factory chimney and drifted across the valley.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *plew- Proto-Indo-European *plewk-der. Proto-Indo-European *plewk-smeh₂ Proto-Italic *plouksmā Latin plūma Anglo-Norman plumebor. Middle English plume English plume From Late Middle English plum, plume (“feather; plumage”), from Anglo-Norman plum, plume, from Old French plume, plome (“feather, plumage”), from Latin plūma (“feather, plumage”) (compare Late Latin plūma (“pen, quill”)), from Proto-Italic *plouksmā, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to fly”). Doublet of pluma.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Under a Coronet his flowing haire / In curles on either cheek plaid, wings he wore / Of many a colourd plume ſprinkl'd with Gold, / His habit fit for ſpeed ſuccinct, and held / Before his decent ſteps a Silver wand."
— 1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 650–654:
"The firſt thing that ſtruck Manfred’s eyes was a groupe of his ſervants endeavouring to raiſe ſomething that appeared to him a mountain of ſable plumes. […] [W]hat a ſight for a father’s eyes!—he beheld his child daſhed to pieces, and almoſt buried under an enormous helmet, an hundred times more large than any caſque ever made for human being, and ſhaded with a proportionable quantity of black feathers."
— 1764 December 24 (indicated as 1765), Onuphrio Muralto, translated by William Marshal [pseudonyms; Horace Walpole], chapter I, in The Castle of Otranto, […], London: […] Tho[mas] Lownds […], →OCLC, pages 4–5:
"[T]he most valuable cargo carried by the Titanic wasn't diamonds or gold but 12 cases of ostrich plumes valued at $2.3 million in today's money."
— 2020 August 4, Richard Conniff, “They may Look Goofy, but Ostriches are Nobody’s Fool”, in National Geographic, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 09 Oct 2020:
"Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!"
— 1845 February, — Quarles [pseudonym; Edgar Allan Poe], “The Raven”, in The American Review, volume I, number II, New York, N.Y.; London: Wiley & Putnam, […], →OCLC:
"The fearful infant turn'd his head away, / And on his nurſe's neck reclining lay, / His unknown father ſhunning with affright, / And looking back on ſo uncouth a ſight; / Daunted to ſee a face with ſteel o'er-ſpread, / And his high plume that nodded o'er his head."
— a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The Last Parting of Hector and Andromache. From the Sixth Book of the Iliad.”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 455:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The volcano erupted, sending a thick ____ of ash high into the sky.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A thick ____ of smoke rose from the factory chimney and drifted across the valley.