What does deplumation mean?
Deplumation is the formal noun for the act of removing or plucking feathers from a bird, especially as a butcher, falconer, or taxidermist might do. In ordinary use it names the process itself: a careful deplumation can save the meat, clear a carcass, or prepare a specimen. Because the word is uncommon and somewhat clinical, it gives ordinary descriptions a distinctly technical or ceremonious tone, and it should not be used merely to mean that a bird naturally molts. The related verb deplume can also describe a bird losing plumage or, figuratively, a person becoming bald. Deplumation is chiefly a historical or specialist vocabulary word, but it is vivid and useful when precision about feather removal is wanted. It derives from Latin deplumare, meaning “to strip of feathers,” a meaning that remains central to the modern word.
nounThe act or process of plucking or removing feathers from a bird, especially when preparing a carcass, falconry quarry, or taxidermic specimen.
- The removal or plucking of feathers from a bird or bird carcass; the process of depluming.
"The taxidermist's careful deplumation of the specimen preserved the bird's shape."
"The taxidermist's careful deplumation of the specimen preserved the bird's shape."
"For the feast, the cooks began the deplumation of six birds before dawn."
The plural is rarely needed because the word usually refers to a single process or procedure.
"The record documented three separate deplumations of birds at the research station."
Deplumation is the technical name for the unglamorous work of making a bird featherless.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does deplumation come from?
Deplumation was borrowed from Latin deplumātiō, a noun of action meaning “the stripping of feathers.” It was formed from deplumāre, “to strip of feathers,” which combines the Latin prefix de- with plūma, “feather.” English plume, plumage, plumery, and plumous likewise trace to the same Latin root for a feather.
How deplumation is actually used
This is a formal, uncommon, and somewhat technical term. It usually implies deliberate feather removal rather than the natural loss of feathers during molting.
Easily confused with deplumation
Deplumation is the removal of feathers, whereas plumation refers to the development or arrangement of plumage.