An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Feder

by Friedrich Kluge

Feder, f., ‘feather, pen, plume, spring, flaw (in jewels),’ from the equiv. MidHG. vëder, vëdere, OHG. fëdara, f.; the term common to Teut. for ‘feather’; comp. OSax. fëthara, AS. fëþer, f., ‘feather, wing,’ E. feather, OIc. fjǫþr, f., Goth. *fiþra, f., akin to the collective noun Gefieder (see Fittich). Goth. *fiþra, from pre-Teut. pétrâ, f., has in the allied Aryan languages some correspondences which prove the existence of an Aryan root pet, ‘to fly’; comp. the Sans. root pat, ‘to fly,’ pátatra, n., ‘wing,’ patará, adj., ‘flying,’ çatápatra, ‘having a hundred wings or feathers,’ Gr. πέτομαι, ‘to fly,’ πτερόν (for *πετερόν), ‘wing,’ πτίλον (for *πετίλον), ‘feather’; it is less certain whether Lat. penna, ‘feather’ (for *petsna?), is allied. See Fittich. —