feather
feath·er/ˈfɛðə/noun, verb
feather is spelled F-E-A-T-H-E-R: 7 letters and 2 syllables (feath·er). It appears 4.9 times per million words in written English, the 11,373rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, feather means “A branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds, used for flight, swimming, protection and display” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of feather is feathers.
How many letters and syllables are in feather?
| Letters | 7: F-E-A-T-H-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: feath·er |
| In writing | 4.9 times per million words; the 11,373rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is feather?
Feather appears 4.9 times per million words in written English, the 11,373rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce feather?
- UK /ˈfɛðə/
- /ˈfɛvə/
- Australia /ˈfeðə/
Feather has 2 syllables, split feath·er in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-feather.wav, En-us-feather.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with feather?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as feather from its last stressed vowel (/ɛðə/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of feather
- feathers plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- feathering participle, present
- feathered participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does feather mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A branching, hair-like structure that grows on the bodies of birds, used for flight, swimming, protection and display.
- 2
Long hair on the lower legs of a dog or horse, especially a draft horse, notably the Clydesdale breed. Narrowly only the rear hair.
- 3
One of the fins or wings on the shaft of an arrow.
- 4
A longitudinal strip projecting from an object to strengthen it, or to enter a channel in another object and thereby prevent displacement sideways or rotationally but permit motion lengthwise.
Near-synonym: spline
- 5
Kind; nature; species (from the proverbial phrase "birds of a feather").
- 6
One of the two shims of the three-piece stone-splitting tool known as plug and feather or plug and feathers; the feathers are placed in a borehole and then a wedge is driven between them, causing the stone to split.
- 7
The angular adjustment of an oar or paddle-wheel float, with reference to a horizontal axis, as it leaves or enters the water.
- 8
Anything petty or trifling; a whit or jot.
verb
- 1
To cover or furnish with feathers; (when of an arrow) to fletch.
- 2
To adorn, as if with feathers; to fringe.
- 3
To arrange in the manner or appearance of feathers.
The stylist feathered my hair.
- 4
To rotate the oars while they are out of the water to reduce wind resistance.
- 5
To streamline the blades of an aircraft's propeller by rotating them perpendicular to the axis of the propeller when the engine is shut down so that the propeller does not windmill during flight.
After striking the bird, the pilot feathered the damaged left engine’s propeller.
- 6
To finely shave or bevel an edge.
- 7
To intergrade or blend the pixels of an image with those of a background or neighboring image.
- 8
Of written or printed ink: to take on a blurry appearance as a result of spreading through the receiving medium.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Feather in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | plume , fanon , mettre en drapeau |
| German | Feder, Vogelfeder , befiedern |
| Portuguese | pluma, pena |
| Spanish | pluma, péndola |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does feather come from?
From Middle English fethere, from Old English feþer, from Proto-West Germanic *feþru, from Proto-Germanic *feþrō, from Proto-Indo-European *péth₂r̥ (“feather, wing”), from *peth₂- (“to fly”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).