Difference between down and feather

Posted By: Sm Adminon: December 31, 2015In: Miscellaneous

Down:
Down lies beneath the protective covering, usually on the belly of the bird, and is light and fluffy. It provides insulation birds need to keep warm. Down is a fine thermal insulator and padding used in jackets, bedding, pillows and sleeping bags. The down feather is considered to be the simplest among all feather types. There are three types of down: natal down, body down and powder down. Down is warm, light weight and packable.
Feather:
Feather is any of the flat appendages growing from a bird’s skin and forming its plumage, consisting of a partly hollow horny shaft fringed with vanes of barbs. Although feathers cover most parts of the body of birds, they arise only from certain well-defined tracts on the skin. There are two basic types of feathers: vaned feathers and down feathers. Feather insulates birds from water and cold temperatures.
Differences:

Basis	Down	Feather
Definition	A covering of soft fluffy feathers (www.merriam-webster.com)	Any of the flat appendages growing from a bird’s skin and forming its plumage, consisting of a partly hollow horny shaft fringed with vanes of barbs (www.oxforddictionaries.com)
Synonyms	Melancholy, miserable, sorrowful, downcast, dejected	Species, variety, plumage, wing, stamp, fledge
Antonyms	Chipper, gladsome, elated, blissful, upwards and frisky	Tatters
Types	The types of down are: Duck down Eider down Goose down Polish/Hungarian goose down Feather-down combinations Marabout	The types of feather are: Flight feathers Contour feathers Down feathers Semiplume feathers Filoplume feathers
Word origin	The word down was originated from Middle English doun, from Old Norse dūnn.	The word feather was originated from Old English fether, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch veer and German Feder, from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit patra ‘wing’, Latin penna ‘feather’, and Greek pteron, pterux ‘wing’.
Dimensional	Down is multi-dimensional.	Feathers are not multi-dimensional.
Quills	Down contains no quills.	Feathers do contain quills.
Softness	It is soft.	It is not as soft as down.
Temperature	Down serves as an excellent temperature controller which manages to trap heat while still allowing air to pass through.	Feathers are not as good as down in the temperature department.
Pronunciation	Eng (UK): /daʊn/ Eng (US): /doun/	Eng (UK): /ˈfɛðə/ Eng (US): /ˈfeT͟Hər/
Advantages/Benefits	Its advantages are: Excellent thermal insulation capacity Low weight Softness	Its advantages are: Soft Flexible Most durable Little weight
Example in Sentence	He bought a down pillow. Down is packable.	The peacock has beautiful and colorful feathers. The bird was covered with white feathers.