protofeather

P3R1O1T1O1F4E1A1T1H4E1R1

noun

The hypothetical precursors of bird feathers, believed to have been grown by certain dinosaurs.

OriginEnglish feather ← Ancient Greek πρωτο- (prōto-) ← Proto-Indo-European *pró →
Scrabble 20
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounprotofeather (plural protofeathers)

plural protofeathers

  1. biologyThe hypothetical precursors of bird feathers, believed to have been grown by certain dinosaurs.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*per-der.?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*pér
  3. Proto-Indo-European*pró
  4. Ancient Greekπρό (pró)
  5. Ancient Greekπρῶτος (prôtos)
  6. Ancient Greekπρωτο- (prōto-)
  7. Englishproto-
  8. Englishfeather
  9. Englishprotofeather

From proto- + feather.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

protofeather. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/protofeather

MLA

“protofeather.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/protofeather. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “protofeather,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/protofeather.

Source: protofeather on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.