feathern

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English fetheren, plural of fether (“fether”), equivalent to feather +‎ -en (plural marker).

Alternative forms

• fetheren (obsolete)

Noun

feathern

1. (nonstandard or dialectal) plural of feather
   • 1904, English and Scottish Ballads, page 204:

     'Sit down, sit down, my master dear,
     Write a love-letter hastily,
     And put it in under my feathern gray,
     And I'll away to southen land as fast as I can flee. […] '

   • 1918, Electrical Merchandising Week, volumes 19-20, page 141:

     "Youse two birds will be after pullin' th' tail feathern out av each other and litterin' up th' landscape with loud squawks."

Etymology 2

From feather +‎ -en.

Adjective

feathern (comparative more feathern, superlative most feathern)

1. (rare) Relating to or consisting of feathers.
   • 1978, Poultry Science, volume 56, page 875:

     It may still be prevalent in parti-colored breeds where excellence of feathern pattern seems enhanced by slow juvenile feather growth.

   • 2011, Lexy & K-Paul (lyrics and music), “Like A Bird”, in Psycho:

     From above looking down
     Your black feathern crown
     Why you always make a sound
     Can't stand still chi chi man […]

   • 2013, Preston L. Allen, Every Boy Should Have a Man:

     When the le-gator finished its feathern meal, it roared loudly, a roar that set all winged creatures to flight, and it slunk its bulk back into the water and swam out to the middle of the pond, its eyes and nostrils the only parts of its dragonserpent body above the waterline.