fern
[furn]
- any seedless, nonflowering vascular plant of the class Filicinae, of tropical to temperate regions, characterized by true roots produced from a rhizome, triangular fronds that uncoil upward and have a branching vein system, and reproduction by spores contained in sporangia that appear as brown dots on the underside of the fronds.
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Origin of fern
before 900; Middle English ferne, Old English fearn; cognate with German Farn fern, Sanskrit parná feather
Fern
[furn]
- a female given name.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
thicketscrubhedgefernshrubberyundergrowthgrovecovercoppicecopsedinglesedgeunderwoodbrushwoodgorsebrackenspinneychaparralplantboscageExamples from the Web for fern
Contemporary Examples
She has received the Fern Holland Award from the Vital Voices Global Partnership for giving a voice to female victims.
Mizrahi and Rowland will also serve as judges alongside fashion luminary and Senior Vice President of IMG Fashion, Fern Mallis.
Historical Examples
At times they lost the trail, as it was overgrown with fern and berry bush.
Indian Legends of Vancouver IslandAlfred Carmichael
She crushed the fern into a rough ball and threw it over the edge of the rock.
The Incomplete AmoristE. Nesbit
Don't you remember, I thought I heard a rustling in the fern, and you laughed at me?
The Green Satin GownLaura E. Richards
The stuffing is of fern, feathers, mounga, and sundry other matters.
Brighter Britain! (Volume 1 of 2)William Delisle Hay
Everything had to be interviewed, from teaspoons to pots of fern.
Lotus BudsAmy Carmichael
fern
- any tracheophyte plant of the phylum Filicinophyta, having roots, stems, and fronds and reproducing by spores formed in structures (sori) on the frondsSee also tree fern
- any of certain similar but unrelated plants, such as the sweet fern
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Word Origin
Old English fearn; related to Old High German farn, Sanskrit parná leaf
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for fern
n.
Old English fearn, from Proto-Germanic *farno- (cf. Old Saxon farn, Middle Dutch vaern, Dutch varen, Old High German farn, German Farn), possibly with a sense of "having feathery fronds" and from PIE *por-no-, a root which has yielded words for "feather, wing" (cf. Sanskrit parnam "feather;" Lithuanian papartis "fern;" Russian paporot'; Greek pteris "fern," pteron "feather"), from root *per- (see petition (n.)). The plant's ability to appear as if from nothing accounts for the ancient belief that fern seeds conferred invisibility.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
fern
[fûrn]
- Any of numerous seedless vascular plants belonging to the phylum Pterophyta that reproduce by means of spores and usually have feathery fronds divided into many leaflets. Most species of ferns are homosporous (producing only one kind of spore). The haploid spore grows into a small, usually flat gametophyte known as a prothallus, which is undifferentiated into roots, stems, and leaves. The green prothallus anchors itself with hairlike extensions known as rhizoids and bears both archegonia (organs producing female gametes) and antheridia (organs producing male gametes). The male gametes require the presence of water to swim to the female gametes and fertilize the eggs. Normally only one embryo is produced, and it then grows out of the gametophyte plant as a diploid sporophyte plant that has roots, stems, and leaves and conducts photosynthesis, while the smaller gametophyte withers away. The leaves of these sporophytes eventually produce sporangia (in some species occurring in clusters known as sori). Under dry conditions, the sori burst releasing hundreds of thousands or millions of spores. Ferns were abundant in the Carboniferous period and exist today in about 11,000 species, about three-quarters of which live in tropical climates.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
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