fern

See also: Fern

English

A fern.

Etymology

From Middle English fern, from Old English fearn, from Proto-West Germanic *farn, from Proto-Indo-European *pornóm (“feather, wing; fern, leaf”), from *p(t)erH- (“fern”).

Cognate with West Frisian fear, Dutch varen, German Farn, Lithuanian spar̃nas, Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬭𐬆𐬥𐬀 (par^əna), Ashkun pār, Kamkata-viri por, přor, Prasuni parëg, Sanskrit पर्ण (parṇá).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /fɜːn/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /fɝn/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /fɜːn/, [fɘːn]
• (Early Modern) IPA^(key): /fɛːrn/, /fɛrn/^[1]
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)n

Noun

fern (plural ferns)

1. Any of a group of some twenty thousand species of vascular plants classified in the division Pteridophyta that lack seeds and reproduce by shedding spores to initiate an alternation of generations.

Synonyms

• (Pteridophyta): Filicophyta (archaic)

Derived terms

• adder's fern (Polypodium vulgare, Ophioglossum spp.)
• air fern (hydrozoan skeletons)
• Alice's fern (Lygodium palmatum)
• American climbing fern (Lygodium palmatum)
• artillery fern
• asparagus fern (in genus Asparagus)
• ball fern
• bamboo fern
• Barnsley fern
• basket fern
• bead fern
• bladder fern
• Boston fern
• buckler fern
• chain fern
• Christmas fern
• cinnamon fern
• climbing maidenhair fern
• cloak fern (Notholaena spp.)
• coral fern (Gleichenia spp.)
• duckweed fern (Azolla spp.)
• evergreen wood fern (Dryopteris marginalis, Polystichum acrostichoides)
• fern ally
• fern bar
• fern bush (Chamaebatiaria millefolium)
• fern cake
• fern house
• fern-leaf
• fern pine
• fern seed
• ferny
• filmy fern
• hard fern
• hare's-foot fern
• Hartford fern (Lygodium palmatum)
• hay-scented fern
• horseshoe fern
• ice fern
• Japanese climbing fern (Lygodium japonicum)
• king fern (Ptisana salicina, Todea barbara)
• lady fern
• leatherleaf fern
• lip fern
• maidenhair fern
• male fern
• man fern
• mosquito fern (Azolla spp.)
• netted chain fern
• New York fern (Parathelypteris noveboracensis)
• northern lady fern
• oak fern
• ostrich fern
• parsley fern (Cryptogramma crispa)
• rabbit's-foot fern
• rattlesnake fern
• royal fern (Osmunda regalis, Osmunda spectabilis)
• seed fern (Pteridospermatophyta spp.)
• sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis)
• shield fern
• staghorn fern
• sweetfern (in genus Comptonia)
• sword fern
• Tara fern
• tree fern
• umbrella fern (Sticherus spp.)
• vegetable fern
• Venus hair fern
• walking fern
• water fern (Azolla spp.)
• whisk fern
• wig tree fern
• Wilson's filmy fern
• wood fern

 

Translations

plant

Abkhaz: аҭы́рас (atə́ras) Albanian: fier (sq) m Arabic: سَرْخَس (sarḵas) Armenian: պտեր (hy) (pter) Aromanian: fearicã f Assamese: ঢেকীয়া (dhekia) Azerbaijani: qıjı, ayıdöşəyi Basque: ira Belarusian: па́параць f (páparacʹ), па́паратнік m (páparatnik) Bengali: ফার্ন (bn) (pharno) Breton: raden (br) pl Bulgarian: папрат (bg) f (paprat) Burmese: ဒရင်ကောက်ပင် du (da.rangkaukpang) Catalan: falguera (ca) f Valencian: falaguera (ca) f Cebuano: pakó Chechen: чураш (čuraš) Chinese: Mandarin: 蕨類 / 蕨类 (zh) (juélèi) Cornish: reden pl Czech: kapradina f, kapraď (cs) f Danish: bregne (da) c Dutch: varen (nl) c Erzya: карёлго (kaŕolgo) Esperanto: filiko Estonian: sõnajalg (et) Faroese: trøllakampur m, trøllakambur m Finnish: saniainen (fi) French: fougère (fr) f Friulian: felet Galician: fieito m, fento (gl), felgo, folgueira (gl) f, dentabrún m, botrico m Gallo: faeugieur' f Georgian: გვიმრა (gvimra) German: Farn (de) m, Farnkraut (de) n Greek: φτέρη (el) f (ftéri) Ancient: πτέρις f (ptéris) Hebrew: שָׂרָךְ (he) (sharakh) Hindi: फर्न m (pharn) Hungarian: páfrány (hu) Icelandic: burkni (is) m Indonesian: paku (id) Ingrian: sananjalka, sannikkain Interlingua: filice (ia) Irish: raithneach f Italian: felce (it) f Ivatan: tamidok Japanese: 歯朶 (ja) (しだ, shida), 羊歯 (ja) (しだ, shida) Kapampangan: paku Kazakh: қырыққұлақ (qyryqqūlaq) Khmer: បណ្ណង្គជាតិ (pannangkĕəʼciət) Korean: 양치류(羊齒類) (ko) (yangchiryu) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: serxes (ku) f, teraş (ku) f Latgalian: papardis Latin: filix f Latvian: paparde Lithuanian: papartis Macedonian: папрат f (paprat) Malay: paku (ms) Malayalam: പന്നൽ (ml) (pannal) Mansaka: pako Manx: rhennagh m Maori: huruwhenua Mingrelian: გვიმორა (gvimora), გვიმარა (gvimara), გუიმარა (guimara), გუმარა (gumara) Mongolian: Cyrillic: ойм (mn) (ojm) Mongolian: ᠣᠶᠢᠮᠤ (oyimu) Neapolitan: felece Ngazidja Comorian: kudju class 5/6 Norwegian: Bokmål: bregne (no) m or f Nynorsk: bregne m Occitan: falguièra (oc) f, falguièira f Old English: fearn n Persian: سرخس (fa) (saraxs) Polish: paproć (pl) f Portuguese: samambaia (pt) f (Brazil), feto (pt) m (Portugal) Romanian: ferigă (ro) f Russian: па́поротник (ru) m (páporotnik) Sardinian: fíbixi, fíliche, fírigu Scots: fairn Scottish Gaelic: raineach f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: па̏пра̄т f Roman: pȁprāt (sh) f Sicilian: fìlici (scn) f Slovak: papraď f Slovene: práprot (sl) f Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: paproś f Spanish: helecho (es) m, (please verify) helez m, shapumba f (Peru), yogo m (Mexico), calimete m (Dominican Republic) Svan: იფხ (ipx), გვიმბრა (gvimbra), გუ̂იმბრა (gûimbra), გუ̂იმრა (gûimra), გუ̂რიმბ (gûrimb), გუ̂იმორ (gûimor) Swahili: mkangaga class 3/4 Swedish: ormbunke (sv), bräken Tagalog: pako Thai: เฟิร์น (th) (fəən) Turkish: eğrelti otu (tr) Ukrainian: па́пороть f (páporotʹ) Uzbek: qirqquloq (uz) Venetan: féłese f Vietnamese: dương xỉ (vi) Volapük: filig Welsh: rhedynen f

See also

• bracken

References

1. Dobson, E. J. (1957) English pronunciation 1500-1700‎, second edition, volume II: Phonology, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1968, →OCLC, § 8, page 472: “Fern is recorded with ĕ by Levins (beside ę̄), Gil (1621 edition), Poole, Coles, and Brown; with ę̄ by Levins (beside ĕ) and Gil (1619 edition).”.

Further reading

• fern on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• fren', nerf, fren, NeRF

German

Etymology

From Old High German ferrana.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɛʁn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛʁn

Adjective

fern (strong nominative masculine singular ferner, comparative ferner, superlative am fernsten)

1. remote
2. far away

Declension

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist fern	sie ist fern	es ist fern	sie sind fern
strong declension (without article)	nominative	ferner	ferne	fernes	ferne
	genitive	fernen	ferner	fernen	ferner
	dative	fernem	ferner	fernem	fernen
	accusative	fernen	ferne	fernes	ferne
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der ferne	die ferne	das ferne	die fernen
	genitive	des fernen	der fernen	des fernen	der fernen
	dative	dem fernen	der fernen	dem fernen	den fernen
	accusative	den fernen	die ferne	das ferne	die fernen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein ferner	eine ferne	ein fernes	(keine) fernen
	genitive	eines fernen	einer fernen	eines fernen	(keiner) fernen
	dative	einem fernen	einer fernen	einem fernen	(keinen) fernen
	accusative	einen fernen	eine ferne	ein fernes	(keine) fernen

Positive forms of fern

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist ferner	sie ist ferner	es ist ferner	sie sind ferner
strong declension (without article)	nominative	fernerer	fernere	ferneres	fernere
	genitive	ferneren	fernerer	ferneren	fernerer
	dative	fernerem	fernerer	fernerem	ferneren
	accusative	ferneren	fernere	ferneres	fernere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der fernere	die fernere	das fernere	die ferneren
	genitive	des ferneren	der ferneren	des ferneren	der ferneren
	dative	dem ferneren	der ferneren	dem ferneren	den ferneren
	accusative	den ferneren	die fernere	das fernere	die ferneren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein fernerer	eine fernere	ein ferneres	(keine) ferneren
	genitive	eines ferneren	einer ferneren	eines ferneren	(keiner) ferneren
	dative	einem ferneren	einer ferneren	einem ferneren	(keinen) ferneren
	accusative	einen ferneren	eine fernere	ein ferneres	(keine) ferneren

Comparative forms of fern

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist am fernsten	sie ist am fernsten	es ist am fernsten	sie sind am fernsten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	fernster	fernste	fernstes	fernste
	genitive	fernsten	fernster	fernsten	fernster
	dative	fernstem	fernster	fernstem	fernsten
	accusative	fernsten	fernste	fernstes	fernste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der fernste	die fernste	das fernste	die fernsten
	genitive	des fernsten	der fernsten	des fernsten	der fernsten
	dative	dem fernsten	der fernsten	dem fernsten	den fernsten
	accusative	den fernsten	die fernste	das fernste	die fernsten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein fernster	eine fernste	ein fernstes	(keine) fernsten
	genitive	eines fernsten	einer fernsten	eines fernsten	(keiner) fernsten
	dative	einem fernsten	einer fernsten	einem fernsten	(keinen) fernsten
	accusative	einen fernsten	eine fernste	ein fernstes	(keine) fernsten

Superlative forms of fern

Derived terms

• fernsehen
• gegenwartsfern
• gesellschaftsfern
• lösungsfern
• marktfern
• menschenfern
• realitätssfern
• wirklichkeitsfern
• zukunftsfern

 

Related terms

• fern liegen
• Ferne
• Fernglas
• Fernheizung
• Fernrohr
• Fernsehen
• Fernsicht
• Fernstrom
• Fernstudium
• Fernuniversität
• Fernunterricht
• Fernverkehr
• Fernwärme
• Fernwasserleitung
• Fernweh
• Fernwirkung
• Fernzug

 

Preposition

fern [with genitive; or with dative]

1. (higher register) far away from something

   Fern des Landes / dem Land, in dem sie geboren wurde

   Far away from the land in which she was born

Further reading

• “fern (adjective)” in Duden online
• “fern (preposition)” in Duden online
• “fern” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Icelandic

Etymology

From the root fer-. Compare tvennur, þrennur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɛrtn/
• Rhymes: -ɛrtn

Adjective

fern

1. four (used when counting singular nouns, pluralia tantum or groupings (especially pairs) of items, or when the item counted is missing from the sentence or separated by the preposition af (“of”))

   fernir skór ― four pairs of shoes

   fernir tónleikar ― four concerts [tónleikar is plurale tantum]

   Þetta má gera á fernan hátt. ― This can be done in four ways. [háttur cannot be used in its plural form in this sense]

   Það er fernt sem mig vantar. ― There are four [things] that I need. [noun omitted]

   Ég vil fá fernt af öllu. ― I want four of everything.

Declension

strong declension (indefinite)	singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
	nominative	fern	fern	fernt
	accusative	fernan	ferna
	dative	fernum	fernri	fernu
	genitive	ferns	fernrar	ferns
	plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
	nominative	fernir	fernar	fern
	accusative	ferna
	dative	fernum
	genitive	fernra
weak declension (definite)	singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
	nominative	ferni	ferna	ferna
	acc/dat/gen	ferna	fernu
	plural (all-case)	fernu

positive forms of fern

Derived terms

• ferna

Related terms

• fer-
• fjórir
• tvennur
• þrennur

Middle English

Alternative forms

• vern, fearn, farn, varn, firn

Etymology

From Old English fearn, from Proto-West Germanic *farn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɛːrn/, /fɛrn/

Noun

fern (plural ferns)

1. fern

Derived terms

• ferny

Descendants

• English: fern
• Scots: farne, fairn
• Yola: vearne, fearn

References

• “fē̆rn, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *wernā (compare Welsh gwern). Cognate with Old Armenian գերան (geran).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɸʲer͈n͈]

Noun

fern f (genitive fernae, nominative plural ferna)

1. alder
2. shield (made of alder wood)
3. pole, stake
4. the letter F

Inflection

Feminine ā-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	fernL	feirnL	fernaH
Vocative	fernL	feirnL	fernaH
Accusative	feirnN	feirnL	fernaH
Genitive	fernaeH	fernL	fernN
Dative	feirnL	fernaib	fernaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Irish: fearn
  • ⇒ Irish: fearnóg
• Manx: farney
• Scottish Gaelic: feàrna

Mutation

Mutation of fern

radical	lenition	nasalization
fern	ḟern	fern pronounced with /β(ʲ)-/

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Old Saxon

Noun

fern m

1. Alternative form of infern