Word
fern
US/ˈfɝn/
UK/fˈɜːn/
Definition
n. a green plant with long, feathery leaves that does not produce flowers or seeds.
n. a flowerless vascular plant that reproduces via spores and typically possesses feathery or highly divided fronds.
Examples
“The forest floor was covered in green ferns.”
“Because they thrive in damp and shaded areas, ferns are popular choices for indoor hanging baskets.”
“The fossil record indicates that ferns were among the dominant terrestrial plant groups during the Carboniferous period, long before the evolution of flowering species.”
Examples
simple
“The forest floor was covered in green ferns.”
contextual
“Because they thrive in damp and shaded areas, ferns are popular choices for indoor hanging baskets.”
complex
“The fossil record indicates that ferns were among the dominant terrestrial plant groups during the Carboniferous period, long before the evolution of flowering species.”
Real-World Examples
Common in sport writing
“When the first dinosaurs were stepping through ferns and cycads, most of Earth’s landmass was pushed together into a supercontinent called Pangaea .” “About 210 million years ago, two early relatives of modern crocodiles stood near each other among the low ferns of a humid riverbank in what is now northern New Mexico.” Etymology
From fern; in the case of the surname, it was given to someone who lived in a place where there was an abundance of these plants.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/fern