Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Fern
Fern
,adv.
Long ago.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
Fern
,Adj.
[AS.
fyrn
.] Ancient; old.
[Obs.]
“Pilgrimages to . . . ferne halwes.” [saints]. Chaucer.
Fern
(fẽrn)
, Noun.
[AS.
fearn
; akin to D. varen
, G. farn
, farn
kraut; cf. Skr. parṇa
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. ☞ 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
. (Zool.)
(a)
The European goatsucker.
(b)
The short-eared owl.
[Prov. Eng.]
– Fern shaw
a fern thicket.
[Eng.]
R. Browning.
Webster 1828 Edition
Fern
FERN
,Noun.
A plant of several species constituting the tribe or family of Filices, which have their fructification on the back of the fronds or leaves, or in which the flowers are borne on footstalks which overtop the leaves. The stem is the common footstalk or rather the middle rib of the leaves, so that most ferns want the stem altogether. The ferns constitute the first order of cryptogams, in the sexual system.