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fern

1 American  
[furn] / fɜrn /

noun

  1. any seedless, nonflowering vascular plant of the class Filicinae, of tropical to temperate regions, characterized by true roots produced from a rhizome, triangular fronds that uncoil upward and have a branching vein system, and reproduction by spores contained in sporangia that appear as brown dots on the underside of the fronds.

Fern 2 American  
[furn] / fɜrn /

noun

  1. a female given name.

fern British  
/ fɜːn /

noun

  1. any tracheophyte plant of the phylum Filicinophyta , having roots, stems, and fronds and reproducing by spores formed in structures (sori) on the fronds See also tree fern

  2. any of certain similar but unrelated plants, such as the sweet fern

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
fern Scientific  
/ fûrn /

  1. Any of numerous seedless vascular plants belonging to the phylum Pterophyta that reproduce by means of spores and usually have feathery fronds divided into many leaflets. Most species of ferns are homosporous (producing only one kind of spore). The haploid spore grows into a small, usually flat gametophyte known as a prothallus, which is undifferentiated into roots, stems, and leaves. The green prothallus anchors itself with hairlike extensions known as rhizoids and bears both archegonia (organs producing female gametes) and antheridia (organs producing male gametes). The male gametes require the presence of water to swim to the female gametes and fertilize the eggs. Normally only one embryo is produced, and it then grows out of the gametophyte plant as a diploid sporophyte plant that has roots, stems, and leaves and conducts photosynthesis, while the smaller gametophyte withers away. The leaves of these sporophytes eventually produce sporangia (in some species occurring in clusters known as sori). Under dry conditions, the sori burst releasing hundreds of thousands or millions of spores. Ferns were abundant in the Carboniferous period and exist today in about 11,000 species, about three-quarters of which live in tropical climates.

Other Word Forms

  • fernless adjective
  • fernlike adjective
  • ferny adjective

Etymology

Origin of fern

before 900; Middle English ferne, Old English fearn; cognate with German Farn fern, Sanskrit parná feather

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

No underbrush or trees grew there—just bunches of grass, cattails, and ferns.

From Literature

He curled spikily around her neck and they towed the wagon across the grassland, up to the tangled vines and ferns of the rain forest.

From Literature

A chair where he used to pile his work clothes has been removed and in its place is a plant stand holding a potted fern.

From Literature

“No. That’s not why. You chose the name Fern because you loved the way ferns uncoil from fronds, like a dancer.”

From Literature

“Well, I would have chosen some normal kind of plant like a fern, but I guess they wanted something scientific for the teachers’ room.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.