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

So Shakespeare has it, too, in his play of "1 Henry IV.," act ii. scene 1: "We have the receipt of fern seed, we walk invisible."

From The South Isles of Aran by Burke, Oliver J.

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 Lowell, James Russell

May the magic of fern seed fill your eyes and let you see visions, the goodly things of heart's desire, when, all being accomplished, you pause and look at the work of your hands.

From The Garden, You, and I by Wright, Mabel Osgood

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 Tales from Blackwood Volume 4 by Various

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

From Poems by Cawein, Madison Julius