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
The oval, shapely head bore proudly a black shako topped with aigrette plumes.
From Time Magazine Archive
Ignoring the rain, the ladies seized a lifetime's chance and swept into each new party crowned with ostrich feathers, aigrette plumes, flowers and veiling.
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
His Highness was clothed in a beautiful native garb of pale blue, with a puggri, or turban, of the same delicate hue with a diamond-studded aigrette.
From Life in an Indian Outpost by Casserly, Gordon
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.
