fern

IPA/fɜːn/
KK[fˈɚn]IPA/fɜːrn/

fern — noun

  • fernsingular
  • fernsplural

1. A green plant that has no flowers and produces no seeds. Its long thin leaves, c

1.nounB1
Definition

A green plant that has no flowers and produces no seeds. Its long thin leaves, called fronds, are divided into many small parts that give them a feathery look. Ferns grow best in cool, wet places like forests or damp gardens.

Example

Dewi planted several ferns in the shady corner of her garden near the stone wall.

collocation: plant ferns / grow ferns

The forest floor was covered with bright green ferns growing beneath the tall pine trees.

plural: ferns growing in natural habitat

Common collocations
  • fern frond
  • fern leaf
  • potted fern
  • giant fern
  • grow ferns
  • a bed of ferns
  • a clump of ferns
Synonyms
  • bracken

    Refers specifically to a large, coarse type of fern that grows wild in open fields and woodlands, not to all ferns.

Grammar Patterns

a + fern

plural: ferns

Word family

  • fernery
    nounC2
  • ferny
    adjectiveC2
  • fernlike
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All three words describe low-growing plants found in damp, shaded environments, but they refer to different types of vegetation. A fern has feathery fronds that uncurl as they grow and reproduces by tiny spores on the underside of its leaves. Bracken is a specific kind of large, coarse fern that spreads aggressively in open fields and woodlands — all bracken is a fern, but not all ferns are bracken. Moss, by contrast, is a much smaller, soft plant that forms a dense green carpet on rocks, tree bark, and wet ground; it has no true roots, stems, or leaves like a fern does. In a garden, you might plant decorative ferns in a shade bed, pull out invasive bracken from a hillside, and let moss grow naturally between paving stones.

fern ↗bracken ↗moss ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • fern frond
  • fern leaf
  • fern plant
  • fern species
  • fern garden

Phrases

  • a bed of ferns
  • a clump of ferns
  • a patch of ferns
  • covered with ferns

Prepositions

  • fern in [a pot / the shade / a forest]

Etymology

Proto-Indo-EuropeanProto-GermanicOld EnglishEnglish

The word fern comes from Old English fearn, which traces back through Proto-Germanic *farną to a prehistoric Indo-European root *porn-, meaning 'feather' or 'wing'. The name reflects the feathery appearance of the plant's divided leaves (fronds).

First known use

12th century

12th century, in the meaning defined above