pennage (French)
Where does "pennage" come from?
The French noun 'pennage,' meaning a feathery covering or plumage, stems from the Latin word 'penna,' meaning wing or feather. This term traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root '*peth₂-', which denoted the act of flying or spreading out. By combining 'penne' with the noun-forming suffix '-age,' the word evolved to describe the collective result or state of having feathers.
Full etymology tree
- pennage (French), 'feathery covering; plumage'
- compound penne (French), 'large feather'
- inherited penne (Old French), 'feather'
- inherited penna (Latin), 'wing (of natural or supernatural creatures)'
- inherited *petnā (Proto-Italic), 'feather'
- derived *pth₂én- (Proto-Indo-European)
- derived *peth₂- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to spread out'
- derived *pth₂én- (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *petnā (Proto-Italic), 'feather'
- inherited penna (Latin), 'wing (of natural or supernatural creatures)'
- inherited penne (Old French), 'feather'
- suffix -age (Old French), 'forms nouns with the sense of 'action or result of''
- inherited -āticum (Latin), 'Used to form nouns indicating pertinence to the root verb or noun.'
- derived -āticus (Latin), 'Used to form adjectives indicating a relation to the root noun or actions related to it.'
- compound -ātus (Latin), '-ed. Used to form adjectives from nouns indicating the possession of a thing or feature.'
- compound -icus (Latin), 'of or pertaining to; belonging to; derived from; connected with: -ic, -ish'
- derived -āticus (Latin), 'Used to form adjectives indicating a relation to the root noun or actions related to it.'
- inherited -āticum (Latin), 'Used to form nouns indicating pertinence to the root verb or noun.'
- compound penne (French), 'large feather'
Ancestors
- *peth₂- (Proto-Indo-European)
- penne (French)
- -age (French)
- penna (Latin)
Updated June 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris