English

gayfeather

From gay + feather.

A compound of gay + feather

Old French gai ‘joyful, merry’

Middle English gay ‘joyous’

English gay

Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- ‘to fly’

…

Proto-Germanic *feþrō

Proto-West Germanic *feþru

Old English feþer

Middle English fethere ‘a wing feather’

Today it means

noun Many of the plants of the genus Liatris, native to North America, including Mexico, east of the continental divide.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / gayfeather