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Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *plew- Proto-Indo-European *plewk-der. Proto-Indo-European *plewk-smeh₂ Proto-Italic *plouksmā Latin plūma Anglo-Norman plumebor. Middle English plume English plume From Late Middle English plum, plume (“feather; plumage”), from Anglo-Norman plum, plume, from Old French plume, plome (“feather, plumage”), from Latin plūma (“feather, plumage”) (compare Late Latin plūma (“pen, quill”)), from Proto-Italic *plouksmā, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to fly”). Doublet of pluma.

Sense 1 (“to adorn, cover, or furnish with feathers or plumes”) is derived from Anglo-Norman plumer (“to cover with or provide with feathers”), or its etymon Latin plūmāre, the present active infinitive of plūmō (“to grow feathers, to fledge; to cover with feathers, to feather; to embroider with a feathery pattern”) (and compare Late Latin plūmō (“to attach feathers to arrows; of a hawk: to pluck the feathers from prey; (figurative) to celebrate, praise”)), from plūma (“feather; plumage; down”) (see etymology 1) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs). Senses 2–4 (“to arrange and preen the feathers of; to congratulate (oneself) proudly; to strip of feathers”) are from Late Middle English plumen (“to remove the feathers from a bird; of a hawk: to pluck the feathers or the head from prey”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman and Middle French plumer (“to remove the feathers from a bird; to pull out (hairs, especially from a moustache); to rob”), from plūma (see etymology 1). Sense 5 (“to fan out or spread in a cloud”) is derived from plume (noun).