5 definitions found
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Fern \Fern\ (f[~e]rn), noun [AS. fearn; akin to D. varen, G. farn,
farnkraut; cf. Skr. par[.n]a wing, feather, leaf, sort of
plant, or Lith. papartis fern.] (Bot.)
An order of cryptogamous plants, the {Filices}, which have
their fructification on the back of the fronds or leaves.
They are usually found in humid soil, sometimes grow
epiphytically on trees, and in tropical climates often attain
a gigantic size.
Note: The plants are asexual, and bear clustered sporangia,
containing minute spores, which germinate and form
prothalli, on which are borne the true organs of
reproduction. The brake or bracken, the maidenhair, and
the polypody are all well known ferns.
{Christmas fern}. See under {Christmas}.
{Climbing fern} (Bot.), a delicate North American fern
({Lygodium palmatum}), which climbs several feet high over
bushes, etc., and is much sought for purposes of
decoration.
{Fern owl}. (Zo["o]l.)
(a) The European goatsucker.
(b) The short-eared owl. [Prov. Eng.] -- {Fern shaw}, a fern
thicket. [Eng.] --R. Browning.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Fern \Fern\, adverb
Long ago. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Fern \Fern\, adjective [AS. fyrn.]
Ancient; old. [Obs.] ''Pilgrimages to . . . ferne halwes.''
[saints]. --Chaucer.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
fern
noun: any of numerous flowerless and seedless vascular plants
having true roots from a rhizome and fronds that uncurl
upward; reproduce by spores
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
65 Moby Thesaurus words for "fern":
Calamites, Cycadofilicales, Filicales, Selaginellaceae, Sigillaria,
algae, autophyte, bean, bracken, brown algae, calamite, climber,
conferva, confervoid, creeper, cycadofilicales, diatom, equisetum,
filicoids, fruits and vegetables, fucus, fungus, grapevine,
green algae, gulfweed, herb, heterophyte, ivy, kelp, legume,
lentil, lepidodendrids, lepidodendroids, liana, lichen, liverwort,
mold, moss, mushroom, parasite, parasitic plant, pea, perthophyte,
phytoplankton, planktonic algae, plant families, puffball, pulse,
red algae, rockweed, rust, saprophyte, sargasso, sargassum,
sea lentil, sea moss, sea wrack, seaweed, smut, succulent,
toadstool, vetch, vine, wort, wrack
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