Main Entry: ¹plume

Pronunciation: \ˈplüm\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin pluma small soft feather — more at fleece

Date: 14th century

1 : a feather of a bird: as a : a large conspicuous or showy feather b : contour feather c : plumage d : a cluster of distinctive feathers
2 a : material (as a feather, cluster of feathers, or a tuft of hair) worn as an ornament b : a token of honor or prowess : prize
3 : something resembling a feather (as in shape, appearance, or lightness): as a : a plumose appendage of a plant b : an elongated and usually open and mobile column or band (as of smoke, exhaust gases, or blowing snow) c : an animal structure having a main shaft bearing many hairs or filamentous parts; especially : a full bushy tail d : any of several columns of molten rock rising from the earth's lower mantle that are theorized to drive tectonic plate movement and to underlie hot spots

[plume illustration]