plume

la plume (FR N-F) feather, the covering of most birds, formed of an axis and many lateral spines, with soft extensions, each connecting to adjacent rows by means of small barbs; similar structures elsewhere; pen (writing implement) because early pens were formed from quills (the hollow core of the bird feather). First appears in French in 1175, from Latin pluma (down). (Eluard, Musset, Renard)