aigrette

[prettygoodword]

aigrette (AY-gret, ay-GRET) - n., a plume or tuft of feathers, especially from an egret or other heron, worn as an ornament on a hat or in the hair; a ornament, such as a spray of gems, depicting or suggesting this.


Adopted from French in the 1630s, when it started becoming fashionable, where it meant both egret and plume, originally the former, from Old French aigron, heron (from a Germanic root) + -ette, diminutive suffix. Marie-Antoinette with aigrette:


Thanks Wikimedia.

---L.