peacock's feathern.
/ˌpiːkɒks ˈfɛðə/, U.S. /ˈpiˌkɑks ˌfɛðər/ 1. † b. [In reference to the fable of the jay decked with peacock feathers.] A borrowed passage or stylistic ornament in a written work. Obsolete.Apparently an isolated use.
a. Any of the feathers of a peacock; spec. one of the long feathers forming the tail coverts, having an iridescent eye-like marking towards the end. (Used figuratively as a symbol of ostentation or vainglory.)
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the mind > emotion > pride > vainglory > [noun] > symbol of
peacock's feather?a1425
?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 142 Made with pecokes [?a1425 Egerton pacok] fedres & of oþer schynynge fedres.
1560 Bp. J. Pilkington Aggeus the Prophete (1562) 167 It woulde make our proude peacockes feathers too fall.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) iv. i. 200 You may as well goe about to turne the Sunne to yce, with fanning in his face with a Peacocks feather . View more context for this quotation
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler iv. 117 A fly made with a peacocks feather is excellent in a bright day. View more context for this quotation
1702 W. J. tr. C. de Bruyn Voy. Levant ii. 3 A white Plume of Peacocks Feathers..which they wafted to and agen to drive off the Flies.
1773 N.Y. Gaz. & Weekly Mercury 8 Nov. 3/3 (advt.) Balances the peacock's feather upon his nose, lays down upon his back and gets up again by musick.
1848 W. M. Thackeray Bk. Snobs xx. 76 All these people might be so happy, and easy, and friendly,..but for an unhappy passion for peacocks' feathers in England.
1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It liv. 396 See Yup presented the party with gaudy plumes made of gold tinsel and trimmed with peacocks' feathers.
1915 V. Woolf Voy. Out xvii. 286 They made a curious swarm of lines and colours upon the counterpane, with the reddish lumps of stone and peacocks' feathers..lying among them.
1996 J. Cowan Mapmaker's Dream xxi. 139 I take aboard silk, spices, rare gems,..parrots, peacock's feathers.
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society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > ornateness > [noun] > embellishment > an) ornament(s) > borrowed
peacock's feather1837
1837 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 1 17/2 We meet with a peacock's feather of some length in the following passage.
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1828 A. H. Haworth Lepidoptera Britannica iv. 515 The Peacock's feather.
1832 J. Rennie Conspectus Butterflies & Moths Brit. 198 The Peacock's Feather (Y[pomomeuta] comptella, Stephens)..Wings..with a copper-red terminal spot, somewhat eye-like...
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.?a1425