panache

See also: panaché

English

WOTD – 16 February 2008
A helmet with panache (1)

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French panache, from Middle French pennache (plume of feathers), from Italian pennacchio, from Late Latin pinnāculum. Doublet of pinnacle.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA(key): /pəˈnæʃ/, /pəˈnɑːʃ/
  • (file)
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -æʃ

Noun

panache (countable and uncountable, plural panaches)

  1. (countable) An ornamental plume on a helmet.
    Synonyms: hackle, plume, plumage
  2. (uncountable, figurative) Flamboyance, energetic style or action.
    Synonyms: dash, flamboyance, swagger, verve
    • 1894, Kate Chopin, “At the 'Cadian Ball”, in Bayou Folk:
      One old gentleman, who was in the habit of reading a Paris newspaper and knew things, chuckled gleefully to everybody that Alcée’s conduct was altogether chic, mais chic. That he had more panache than Boulanger. Well, perhaps he had.
    • 1988 December 11, Thomas M. Disch, “Lost in Cyberspace”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
      Cyberpunk caters to the wish-fulfillment requirements of male teen-agers, but this is a job that can be done with varying degrees of panache, and there is currently no more accomplished caterer than William Gibson.

Translations

Further reading

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French pennache (plume of feathers), borrowed from Italian pennacchio, from Late Latin pinnāculum. Doublet of pinacle.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pa.naʃ/
  • (file)

Noun

panache m (plural panaches)

  1. (also figurative) panache
  2. (Canada) the bulk of antlers of deer and moose
  3. column (of smoke)

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

  • English: panache
  • Italian: panache
  • Romanian: panaș

Further reading

Anagrams

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French panache, itself from Italian pennacchio.

Noun

panache m (invariable)

  1. (fashion) panache (ornamental plumage)
    Synonym: pennacchio

Further reading

  • panache in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
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