plumage
plum·age/ˈplumɪd͡ʒ/noun
plumage is spelled P-L-U-M-A-G-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables (plum·age). It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,168th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, plumage means “The feathers covering the body of a bird collectively” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of plumage is plumages.
How many letters and syllables are in plumage?
| Letters | 7: P-L-U-M-A-G-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: plum·age |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 31,168th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is plumage?
Plumage appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,168th 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 plumage?
- UK /ˈpluːmɪd͡ʒ/
- UK /ˈpljuː-/
- US /ˈplumɪd͡ʒ/
Plumage has 2 syllables, split plum·age in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-plumage.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-plumage.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of plumage
- plumages plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does plumage mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The feathers covering the body of a bird collectively.
- 2
archaicFeathers used ornamentally; feathering; (countable) a bunch or tuft of such feathers; a plume.
- 3
obsoleteFeathers which are fed to a hawk to cause it to regurgitate, for the purpose of cleaning its crop; a type of casting.
- 4
A person's dress, especially when elaborate or fine.
- 5
A person's external appearance, especially when showy.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Plumage in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense feathers covering the body of a bird collectively:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | plumage, plume (metonym), plumée, pennage |
| German | Federkleid, Federschmuck, Gefieder, Vogelgefieder |
| Portuguese | plumagem |
| Spanish | plumaje |
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 plumage come from?
From Late Middle English plumage, plummage (“bird’s feathers collectively, plumage; (falconry) feathers fed to a hawk to cause it to regurgitate, casting”), from Middle French plumage, plomage (“bird’s feathers collectively; person’s (showy) clothing”), from Old French plumage (“bird’s feathers collectively”) (modern French plumage), from plume (“feather, plume”) + -age (suffix forming nouns denoting a state of being).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).