fern seed

American  

noun

1. the spores of ferns, formerly supposed to have the power to make persons invisible.

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fern seed British  

noun

1. the minute particles by which ferns reproduce themselves, formerly thought to be invisible. Possession of them was thought to make a person invisible

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Etymology

Origin of fern seed

First recorded in 1590–1600

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fern seed

"We have the receipt of fern seed: we walk invisible."

From Poems by Madison Julius Cawein

If I could wear fern seed in my shoes to make me invisible, and sit on the piazza railing in a shirt-waist and a short skirt, I would love it.

From Abroad with the Jimmies by Lilian Bell

The last, by endowing Value with the gift of fern seed and enabling it to walk invisible, turned the flank of the baronial tariff-system and made the roads safe for the great liberalizer Commerce.

From Among My Books Second Series by James Russell Lowell

John, I remember, always carried some fern seed in his trouser-pocket.

From Olivia in India by O. Douglas

Whether they are three or thretty or a hunder surpasses my knowledge, but they hae got the secret o' the fern seed and walk about invisible.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 62, No. 383, September 1847 by Various