aigrette

[ey-gret, ey-gret]

ai·grette

[ey-gret, ey-gret]
noun
1.
a plume or tuft of feathers, especially the back plume of any of various herons, arranged as a head ornament.
2.
a jeweled ornament depicting or suggesting this, usually worn in the hair or on a hat.

Origin:
1635–45; < French, equivalent to aigr- (< Germanic; compare Old High German heiger heron) + -ette -ette. See egret, heron
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Aigrette is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
Collins
World English Dictionary
aigrette or aigret (ˈeɪɡrɛt, eɪˈɡrɛt, ˈeɪɡrɛt, eɪˈɡrɛt)
 
n
1.  a long plume worn on hats or as a headdress, esp one of long egret feathers
2.  an ornament or piece of jewellery in imitation of a plume of feathers
 
[C19: French]
 
aigret or aigret
 
n
 
[C19: French]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

aigrette

tuft of long, white heron (usually egret) plumes used as a decorative headdress, or any other ornament resembling such a headdress. Such plumes were highly prized as ornaments in Middle Eastern ceremonial dress. Jeweled aigrettes, at first made in the form of a tuft of plumes, became an adornment for turbans in Turkey, particularly during the Ottoman period (1281-1924).

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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