fern
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A fern.
See also: Fern
English
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 (parəna), Ashkun pār, Kamkata-viri por, přor, Prasuni parëg, Sanskrit पर्ण (parṇá).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /fɜːn/
- (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /fɝn/
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /fɜːn/,
- (Early Modern) IPA(key): /fɛːrn/, /fɛrn/[1]
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)n
Noun
fern (plural ferns)
- 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
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See also
References
- ^ 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
Anagrams
German
Etymology
From Old High German ferrana.
Pronunciation
Adjective
fern (strong nominative masculine singular ferner, comparative ferner, superlative am fernsten)
Declension
Positive forms of fern
| 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 | |
Comparative 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 | |
Superlative 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 | |
Derived terms
Related terms
Preposition
fern
- (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
Adjective
fern
- 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”))
Declension
positive forms of fern
| 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 | |||
Derived terms
Related terms
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old English fearn, from Proto-West Germanic *farn.
Pronunciation
Noun
fern (plural ferns)
Derived terms
Descendants
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
Noun
fern f (genitive fernae, nominative plural ferna)
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:
| |||
Descendants
Mutation
| 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
- Alternative form of infern