Etymologically
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plume

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Pronunciation

Forms

plume f (plural plumes)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French plume, inherited from Latin plūma (“down; feather”).[2][3][4] The Latin word, properly “down”, was distinct from penna (“feather”), the source of penne and panne; in nearly all the Gallo-Romance dialects the first drove out the reflexes of the second.[3][5] Rey calls the Latin word a popular one of unknown origin, the most interesting comparison being Lithuanian plùnksna (“feather”) and Old Prussian plauxdine (“featherbed”).[3]

Cognate with Italian piuma, Old Occitan pluma, Catalan ploma and Spanish pluma.[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In its first record, the Pèlerinage de Charlemagne (about 1140), it means the down prepared for stuffing cushions;[2][3] lit de plume “featherbed” follows in Chrétien de Troyes' Cligès (1176).[2][3]

Semantic evolution

By about 1165 the word meant a bird's plumage as a whole, and by about 1180 a single feather, as distinct from a penne.[2] Many phrases grew from it: oster la plume a aucun “to flatter, deceive” (1176), laisser des plumes “to come off badly” (about 1640), se parer des plumes du paon (1668, La Fontaine) and léger comme une plume (1640), the idea of lightness that gave the boxing term poids plume “featherweight” (1914).[3][2]

Its most important extension came from the use of goose quills for writing: plume “pen” is recorded in 1461, and by metonymy it named a writer (1549), as in gens de plume (1552), and a manner of writing (1608).[3] The phrases survived the change to the steel nib (early 18th century) and the porte-plume (1725).[3][5] Rey notes that voler dans les plumes de quelqu'un “to go for someone” (1946, Prévert) may allude to fighting cocks or to the old slang plumes “hair” (1878).[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1140 – Down for cushions, in the Pèlerinage de Charlemagne.[2]
  • c. 1165 – A bird's plumage, in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.[2]
  • 1176 – Lit de plume in Chrétien de Troyes' Cligès.[2]
  • c. 1180 – A single feather, in Marie de France.[2]
  • 1461 – Used for a writing pen.[3]
  • 1549 – Used for a writer.[3]
  • 1640 – Léger comme une plume.[2][3]
  • 1725 – Porte-plume “penholder”.[3]
  • 1914 – Poids plume in boxing.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A feather; also feathers as a material: oreiller de plume.[1][2]
  2. A quill, formerly used for writing.[1][5]
  3. A nib, the metal point of a pen, stylo à plume: a fountain pen.[2][1]
  4. (figurative) Writing, and the manner of writing; a writer: une belle plume, homme de plume.[3][1]
  5. (zoology) The internal shell of a squid.[3]
  6. Poids plume: a featherweight (in boxing); léger comme une plume: as light as a feather.[2][3]
  7. Laisser des plumes, y laisser des plumes: to suffer a loss, come off badly.[3][1]

Word family

  • plumage
  • plumer
  • plumeau
  • plumet
  • plumier
  • plumard
  • plumassier
  • déplumer
  • remplumer
  • porte-plume
  • penne
  • Latin plūma
  • English plume

Usage notes

A masculine slang plume (1878, first written plum) means a bed; it is short for plumard, or the singular of les plumes, and the Grand Robert gives it a separate entry.[8][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 83a
  5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse