Pluming

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The action of producing or issuing a plume or cloud of material, particularly in the context of smoke or vapor
2. A term used in certain aviation contexts to describe an upward movement resembling a plume
3. The process of forming or shaping something into a feather-like structure or appearance

Etymology: Long before it described anything rising in the sky, the root of this word was about birds. Latin "pluma" meant a soft feather or down, and it passed into Old French as "plume," which English borrowed for the feathers themselves. From there, the verb "to plume" came to mean adorning something with feathers, and to "plume oneself" meant to preen, as a bird does, and so to take pride in oneself. The aviation sense builds on the noun's other main meaning: a plume is a feathery or billowing shape, such as a column of smoke, vapour, or spray. Calling something "pluming" borrows that image of a rising, spreading mass and applies it to an upward movement that looks like one.

Synonyms: feathering, decorating, adorn