"feather in one's cap" meaning in English

See feather in one's cap in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: en-au-feather in one's cap.ogg [Australia] Forms: feathers in one's cap [plural]
Etymology: The placing of a feather in a hat has been a symbol of achievement that has arisen in several cultures, apparently independently. The English writer and traveller Richard Hansard recorded it in his Description of Hungary, 1599: "It hath been an antient custom among them [Hungarians] that none should wear a fether but he who had killed a Turk, to whom onlie yt was lawful to shew the number of his slaine enemys by the number of fethers in his cappe." The Native American tradition of adding a feather to the head-dress of any warrior who performed a brave act is well known. Head templates: {{en-noun|feathers in one's cap}} feather in one's cap (plural feathers in one's cap)
  1. (idiomatic) An accomplishment; particularly one that is flaunted or boasted of. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: plume, notch in one's belt Translations (recognized accomplishment): sulka hatussa (Finnish), fierté [feminine] (French), accomplissement [masculine] (French), afrek [neuter] (Icelandic), lofsvert framtak [neuter] (Icelandic), rós í hnappagat einhvers (Icelandic), fjær i hatten (Norwegian Bokmål), fjør i hatten (Norwegian Nynorsk), triunfo personal [masculine] (Spanish), en fjäder i hatten (Swedish), కీర్తికిరీటంలో కలికితురాయి (kīrtikirīṭaṁlō kalikiturāyi) (Telugu)
    Sense id: en-feather_in_one's_cap-en-noun-H9Yz0xun Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 62 38 Disambiguation of 'recognized accomplishment': 93 7
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see feather, cap.
    Sense id: en-feather_in_one's_cap-en-noun-co~ii07R

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for feather in one's cap meaning in English (4.6kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "The placing of a feather in a hat has been a symbol of achievement that has arisen in several cultures, apparently independently. The English writer and traveller Richard Hansard recorded it in his Description of Hungary, 1599:\n\"It hath been an antient custom among them [Hungarians] that none should wear a fether but he who had killed a Turk, to whom onlie yt was lawful to shew the number of his slaine enemys by the number of fethers in his cappe.\"\nThe Native American tradition of adding a feather to the head-dress of any warrior who performed a brave act is well known.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "feathers in one's cap",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "feathers in one's cap"
      },
      "expansion": "feather in one's cap (plural feathers in one's cap)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "62 38",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1736, Thomas Lediard, The Life of John, Duke of Marlborough, Prince of the Roman Empire",
          "text": "And contrary to his own Expectation, as well as that of every Body else, when he came to Court, the seven and twentieth of July, the Staff was taken from him, rather with mortifying, than agreeable Circumstances ; When a considerable Pension, or at least a Feather in his Cap, was the least that was expected for him.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Dan Casey, 100 Things Avengers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die",
          "text": "However, one of the biggest feathers in Perez's cap is thanks to the 2003 crossover JLA/Avengers, a project nearly two decades in the making that was derailed by bureaucracy and bullheaded decision-making years prior.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "text": "He thinks it is quite a feather in his cap that he figured it out for himself."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An accomplishment; particularly one that is flaunted or boasted of."
      ],
      "id": "en-feather_in_one's_cap-en-noun-H9Yz0xun",
      "links": [
        [
          "accomplish",
          "accomplish"
        ],
        [
          "flaunt",
          "flaunt"
        ],
        [
          "boast",
          "boast"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) An accomplishment; particularly one that is flaunted or boasted of."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "plume"
        },
        {
          "word": "notch in one's belt"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
          "word": "sulka hatussa"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "fierté"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "accomplissement"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "afrek"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "lofsvert framtak"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
          "word": "rós í hnappagat einhvers"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
          "word": "fjær i hatten"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "nn",
          "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
          "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
          "word": "fjør i hatten"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "triunfo personal"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
          "word": "en fjäder i hatten"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "93 7",
          "code": "te",
          "lang": "Telugu",
          "roman": "kīrtikirīṭaṁlō kalikiturāyi",
          "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
          "word": "కీర్తికిరీటంలో కలికితురాయి"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church History of Belgium",
          "text": "He wore a feather in his cap, and wagg'd it too often.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see feather, cap."
      ],
      "id": "en-feather_in_one's_cap-en-noun-co~ii07R",
      "links": [
        [
          "feather",
          "feather#English"
        ],
        [
          "cap",
          "cap#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-feather in one's cap.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/En-au-feather_in_one%27s_cap.ogg/En-au-feather_in_one%27s_cap.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/En-au-feather_in_one%27s_cap.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "feather in one's cap"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms with audio links"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "The placing of a feather in a hat has been a symbol of achievement that has arisen in several cultures, apparently independently. The English writer and traveller Richard Hansard recorded it in his Description of Hungary, 1599:\n\"It hath been an antient custom among them [Hungarians] that none should wear a fether but he who had killed a Turk, to whom onlie yt was lawful to shew the number of his slaine enemys by the number of fethers in his cappe.\"\nThe Native American tradition of adding a feather to the head-dress of any warrior who performed a brave act is well known.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "feathers in one's cap",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "feathers in one's cap"
      },
      "expansion": "feather in one's cap (plural feathers in one's cap)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1736, Thomas Lediard, The Life of John, Duke of Marlborough, Prince of the Roman Empire",
          "text": "And contrary to his own Expectation, as well as that of every Body else, when he came to Court, the seven and twentieth of July, the Staff was taken from him, rather with mortifying, than agreeable Circumstances ; When a considerable Pension, or at least a Feather in his Cap, was the least that was expected for him.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Dan Casey, 100 Things Avengers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die",
          "text": "However, one of the biggest feathers in Perez's cap is thanks to the 2003 crossover JLA/Avengers, a project nearly two decades in the making that was derailed by bureaucracy and bullheaded decision-making years prior.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "text": "He thinks it is quite a feather in his cap that he figured it out for himself."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An accomplishment; particularly one that is flaunted or boasted of."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "accomplish",
          "accomplish"
        ],
        [
          "flaunt",
          "flaunt"
        ],
        [
          "boast",
          "boast"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) An accomplishment; particularly one that is flaunted or boasted of."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "plume"
        },
        {
          "word": "notch in one's belt"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church History of Belgium",
          "text": "He wore a feather in his cap, and wagg'd it too often.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see feather, cap."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "feather",
          "feather#English"
        ],
        [
          "cap",
          "cap#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-feather in one's cap.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/En-au-feather_in_one%27s_cap.ogg/En-au-feather_in_one%27s_cap.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/En-au-feather_in_one%27s_cap.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
      "word": "sulka hatussa"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "fierté"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "accomplissement"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "afrek"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "lofsvert framtak"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
      "word": "rós í hnappagat einhvers"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
      "word": "fjær i hatten"
    },
    {
      "code": "nn",
      "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
      "word": "fjør i hatten"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "triunfo personal"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
      "word": "en fjäder i hatten"
    },
    {
      "code": "te",
      "lang": "Telugu",
      "roman": "kīrtikirīṭaṁlō kalikiturāyi",
      "sense": "recognized accomplishment",
      "word": "కీర్తికిరీటంలో కలికితురాయి"
    }
  ],
  "word": "feather in one's cap"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.