Dictionary

feather in one's cap en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

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.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) An accomplishment; particularly one that is flaunted or boasted of.
   • Everyone was elated with this turn of events, most of all Colonel Cathcart, who was convinced he had won a feather in his cap. 1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “Major —— de Coverley”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 137:
   • He thinks it is quite a feather in his cap that he figured it out for himself.
   • On a value-for-money basis, Scotland currently has more feathers in its cap. 2025 July 9, Mel Holley, “How much should a station cost?”, in RAIL, number 1039, page 27:
   • 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. 2015, Dan Casey, 100 Things Avengers Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die:
   • 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. 1736, Thomas Lediard, The Life of John, Duke of Marlborough, Prince of the Roman Empire:
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see feather, cap.
   • He wore a feather in his cap, and wagg'd it too often. 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church History of Belgium:

Forms

Synonyms

notch in one's belt · plume

Translations (11)

te కీర్తికిరీటంలో కలికితురాయి (recognized accomplishment) · is lofsvert framtak (recognized accomplishment) · is rós í hnappagat einhvers (recognized accomplishment) · sv en fjäder i hatten (recognized accomplishment) · fi sulka hatussa (recognized accomplishment) · fr fierté (recognized accomplishment) · is afrek (recognized accomplishment) · nb fjær i hatten (recognized accomplishment) · nn fjør i hatten (recognized accomplishment) · es triunfo personal (recognized accomplishment) · fr accomplissement (recognized accomplishment)