A feather in your cap

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Meaning

An achievement, honour, or distinction that someone can be proud of and that enhances their reputation.

Origin

Decorative feathers have marked status or achievement in more than one society. Richard Hansard described a Hungarian military feather custom in 1599, but that report does not prove that it created the English idiom. Thomas Fuller's Church-History of Britain uses a recognizable feather-in-the-cap metaphor in 1655, in a context of showy cleverness, and a 1734 letter uses feather in his hat as a credit. No single hunting, chivalric, Hungarian, or Indigenous American practice can be identified securely as the exclusive origin of the modern expression.

Research Sources

  1. The Church-History of Britain Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership, University of Michigan Library
  2. A Feather in One's Cap Phrase Finder
  3. A feather in your cap Cambridge Dictionary

Variants

  • A feather in one's cap
  • Another feather in your cap

Usage Examples

  • Delivering the bridge under budget will be a feather in the engineering team's cap.
  • Winning the fellowship was another feather in Priya's cap.
  • Even reaching the international shortlist was a feather in the studio's cap.

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