bracken

[brak-uhn]

noun

1. a large fern or brake, especially Pteridium aquilinum.

2. a cluster or thicket of such ferns; an area overgrown with ferns and shrubs.

bracken

/ ˈbrækən /

noun

1. Also called: brake. any of various large coarse ferns, esp Pteridium aquilinum , having large fronds with spore cases along the undersides and extensive underground stems

2. a clump of any of these ferns

Other Word Forms

• brackened adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bracken¹

1275–1325; Middle English braken < Scandinavian; compare Swedish bräken fern, Norwegian brake juniper

Word History and Origins

Origin of bracken¹

C14: of Scandinavian origin; compare Swedish bräken , Danish bregne

Example Sentences

Only decades ago many of the cottages in Scotland’s Highlands were roofed in heather, bracken and marram grass.

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"The landscape has changed dramatically because the cows have been here for about three seasons and you notice there's very little bracken and there are bluebells coming up."

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It has since fallen or been cut down and now lies among the bracken.

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Gorse, heather, bracken and trees were removed to reveal the white boulders.

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He's been a zoologist "since I could walk" and his first words were trees, bracken and gorse.

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Related Words

• scrub 
• thicket