'feather-like' originates from English, specifically as a compound of 'feather' and the suffix '-like', where 'feather' (Old English 'feðer') meant 'feather' and the suffix element 'lic'/'-like' (Old English 'lic') meant 'having the form of' or 'similar to'.

'feather' developed from Old English 'feðer' (from Proto-Germanic *feðraz) into Middle English and then Modern English 'feather'. The suffix element 'lic' in Old English became the productive English suffix '-like' in Middle English, producing compounds such as 'feather-like' in later usage.

Initially, the compound directly meant 'having the form of a feather'; over time it has come to be used more broadly for anything that resembles a feather in appearance, texture, or lightness ('resembling a feather').