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Aigrette

Jewellery
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A jewelled ornament, often plume-shaped, worn in the hair or on a hat. It suggests brightness, ceremony, and a lifted, birdlike grace.

Detailed Definition
An aigrette is a decorative jewel designed to rise from the hair, a headdress, or a hat, traditionally shaped like a spray of feathers, leaves, or sparkling stones. In poetry, it can catch light at the edge of a portrait, turning a beloved into a figure of courtly splendour. Its upward movement may suggest aspiration, vanity, flight, or fragile elegance, especially when it trembles in wind or candlelight.
Example
Example in poetry:
The duchess's aigrette trembled like a small white flame above her hair; Use aigrette to make a birdlike plume suggest aristocratic delicacy; An aigrette of diamonds can catch moonlight in a nocturne; The speaker may contrast a battlefield helmet with an aigrette to oppose violence and ornament
Additional Notes
In poetry, an aigrette can suggest ceremonial splendour, flight, or a flash of light above the wearer; its featherlike form links adornment with birds and elevation.
Also Known As
Aigret
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