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-- Feat"e*ous*ly, adv.

Feath"er (f&ebreve;&thlig;"&etilde;r),
n. [OE. fether, AS. feðer; akin
to D. veder, OHG. fedara, G. feder, Icel.
fjöðr, Sw. fjäder, Dan.
fjæder, Gr. ptero`n wing, feather,
pe`tesqai to fly, Skr. pattra wing, feather,
pat to fly, and prob. to L. penna feather, wing.
√76, 248. Cf. Pen a feather.] 1.
One of the peculiar dermal appendages, of several kinds,
belonging to birds, as contour feathers, quills, and down.

&fist; An ordinary feather consists of the quill or hollow basal
part of the stem; the shaft or rachis, forming the upper, solid part
of the stem; the vanes or webs, implanted on the rachis and
consisting of a series of slender laminæ or barbs, which
usually bear barbules, which in turn usually bear barbicels and
interlocking hooks by which they are fastened together. See
Down, Quill, Plumage.

2. Kind; nature; species; -- from the
proverbial phrase, "Birds of a feather," that is, of the same
species.


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