aigrette
Americannoun
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a plume or tuft of feathers, especially the back plume of any of various herons, arranged as a head ornament.
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a jeweled ornament depicting or suggesting this, usually worn in the hair or on a hat.
noun
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a long plume worn on hats or as a headdress, esp one of long egret feathers
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an ornament or piece of jewellery in imitation of a plume of feathers
Etymology
Origin of aigrette
1635–45; < French, equivalent to aigr- (< Germanic; compare Old High German heiger heron) + -ette -ette. See egret, heron
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Other intriguing pieces included Chaumet’s narrow diamond tiara with a central opal, with an upstanding aigrette of white feathers rising from sapphire branches.
From New York Times • Jul. 9, 2012
From his hat sprouted a white aigrette, round his neck hung the flashing gold chain of the Collar of the Annunziata, on his breast blazed medals.
From Time Magazine Archive
Under the long, lemon-tinted gown and the towering headdress of aigrette plumes, the tall, tawny body is heavier now.
From Time Magazine Archive
The oval, shapely head bore proudly a black shako topped with aigrette plumes.
From Time Magazine Archive
Under the crêpe square there was a small skull-cap of gold-embroidered velvet, matching her little zouave jacket, with an aigrette of gems at the side.
From Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan, Volume I (of 2) Including a Summer in the Upper Karun Region and a Visit to the Nestorian Rayahs by Bird, Isabella L. (Isabella Lucy)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
