Male-fern (Aspidium Filix~ma.s), 
fern 
fern 1 (fern), . [< ME. fernc, < AS. fearn = 
D. varen = OHG. fum, faran, farain, farm, 
MHG. varn, varm, G. faru (in comp. farn-krauf) , 
fern ; perhaps akin to Serv. Bulg. Bohem. papra t 
= Pol. paproc = Russ. paporoti= Lith. papartis, 
fern. Some compare Skt. parnu, wing, fea- 
ther, leaf, tree (applied to various plants) ; the 
same connection of thought appearing in the 
Gr. nrep/f, a fern, vrepov, a wing, feather, = E. 
feather.] One of a large group of vascular 
cryptogamous plants, constituting the natural 
order Filices. They are herbaceous, rarely shrubby or 
arborescent plants, sometimes with long creeping rhi- 
zomes. But in many cases the rootstock or caudex is 
erect, when the species is called a tree-fern. The fructifi- 
cation, which is asexual, consists of spores produced in spo- 
rangia upon the 
backs or margins 
of the fronds. The 
sporangia in most 
genera are collect- 
ed in definite clus- 
ters (sori), and 
these are usually 
covered by a 
special covering 
membrane, or one 
formed from the 
margin of the 
frond, called an 
indusiuui. Each 
sporangium is 
formed from a 
single epidermal 
cell. In the lar- 
gest suborder, the 
Polypodiacece, the 
sporangia are 
stalked and pro- 
vided with a ver- 
tical, many-joint- 
ed ring, which 
ruptures at matu- 
rity, allowing the 
escape of the 
spores. In the 
other suborders 
the ring is less perfectly developed, or wanting. The 
spores in germination produce a green prothallium upon 
the surface of the soil, and upon the under surface of the 
prothallium antheridia and archegonia are monceciously 
produced. After fertilization the germ-cell of the arche- 
gonium develops into a frond-bearing plant. About 2,500 
species of ferns are known. They are found all over the 
world, but abound in humid temperate and tropical re- 
gions. Great Brit- 
ain has about 50, 
temperate North 
America about 
160, India about 
600. Ferns are 
very abundant as 
fossil plants. The 
earliest known 
forms occur in 
Devonian rocks, 
and their remains 
are very com- 
mon in connec- 
tion with coal of 
theCarbonifei'ous 
period. Plants 
of the related 
group Ophioylos- 
saceoe also are 
Fossil Ferns. called ferns. 
a, Spktnopteris obtusileba ; b, S. lattfalia ; Christmas fern. 
c, Pecopttris Miltoni. See Christmas. 
Cloak-fern, a 
species of Nothokena. Filmy fern, a species of the genus 
Hyinenophyllum, found on moist rocks and in copses. 
Flowering fern, a fern of the genus Osmunda, especially 
O. regalis. The latter, which is common in Europe and 
America, growing in boggy places and wet woods, forms 
tufts of large bipinnate fronds. In the fertile fronds the 
upper pinna; are transformed into a handsome panicle of 
sporangia. Hare's-foot fern, Davallia Canarienxis. 
Maidenhair fern, species of Adiantum. especially A. 
pedatum and A. CapUlus- V eneris. Royal fern, Otnnun- 
daregalit. Scented fern, Nephrodium Oreopteris, from 
the citron odor of its fronds when gently rubbed. Sensi- 
tive fern, Onoclea aensihilin. Sweet- or meadow-fern, 
the Myrica Comptonia (or Comptonia axpleni folia), a myri- 
caceous shrub of North America, with fragrant fern-like 
foliage. (For other ferns, see the compound names.) 
fem 2 t, [ME. fern, < AS. fyrn, ancient, former 
(chiefly in comp.), = OS. ferni = OHG. flrni, 
MHG. virne, old, Gr.firn, former, of the last year 
(seefirn), = Icel. font- = Sw. forn- = Goth, fair- 
neis, old, ancient; akin to far 1 , q. v.] 1. An- 
cient; old; former; past; previous. 
Feme halwes couthe in sondry londes. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 14. 
2. Distant; remote; far off. 
Renon . . . passynge to f erne poeples. 
Chaucer, Boethius, ii. meter 7. 
fern'-'t, adv. [ME. fern ; < fern?, a.] Long ago ; 
long before. 
But for they han iknowen it so fern. 
Chaucer, Squire's Tale, 1. 248. 
fernery (fer'ne-ri), n. ; pi. ferneries (-riz). [< 
fern 1 + -ery.~\ A place where ferns are arti- 
ficially grown ; a plantation of ferns. 
2185 
fernfreckled (feru-frek'ld), a. [Cf. fernticle.] 
Freckled. [Prov. Eng.] 
ferngale (fern'gal), . The sweet-fern, Myrica 
Comptonia. 
ferniticle, fernitickle, . See fernticle. 
fernleaf (fern'lef), n. A delicate rose-colored 
alga, i'lillit/Kiiiiiiion gracillii/uiin. 
fern-owl (fern'oul), . 1. Properly, a name of 
the common European goatsucker or night-jar, 
Caprimulgiis europceus. 2. The short-eared owl 
or marsh-owl, Asio brachyotus or accipitrinus. 
[Ireland.] 
fern-seed (fern'sed), . The seed of a fern; 
collectively, the seed-like bodies constituting 
the spores of ferns : formerly supposed to pos- 
sess wonderful virtues, such as the power of 
rendering a person carrying it invisible. 
We have the receipt at fern-seed ; we walk invisible. 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., li. 1. 
fernshaw (fern'sha), n. A shaw, brake, or 
thicket of ferns. 
He bade me take the Gipsy mother, 
And set her telling some story or other 
Of hill or dale, oakwood ov fernshaw. 
Browning, Flight of the Duchess. 
fernsmundt, n. The flowering fern, Osmunda 
regalia. 
Fermmund Is ... an herb of some called water-fern, 
hath a triangular stalk, and is like polipody, and it grows 
in bogs and hollow grounds. 
G. Markham, Cheap and Good Husbandry, 1676. 
fernticle (fern'ti-kl), n. [Also ferntickle, farn- 
ticle, farntickle, fantickle; Sc. ferniticle, ferni- 
tiekl<;fiiirntiekle, explained as 'afreckleon the 
skin resembling the seed of a fern.'] A freckle : 
usually in the plural. [Prov. Eng.] 
fernticled (fern'ti-kld), a. Freckled. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
ferny (fer'ni), a. [</ml + -#!.] 1. Abound- 
ing in or overgrown with ferns. 
See not ye that bonny road, 
That winds about the/emfe brae ? 
Thomas the Rhymer (Child's Ballads, I. 111). 
The wild-buck bells from ferny brake. 
Scott, Marmion, iv. 15. 
2. Resembling or of the nature of a fern. 
fernyeret, . [ME., < fern* + yere, year.] A 
past year; particularly, the past year. 
Farewel al the snowgh otferne yere. 
otferne yere. 
Chaucer, Troilus, v. 1176. 
Many tymes haue moeued the to thiuke on thine ende, 
And how fele ferngeres are faren [gone] and so fewe to 
come. Piers Plowman (B), xii. 5. 
ferocientt, a. [< L. ferocien(t-)s, ppr. of fero- 
cire, be fierce, be ungovernable, <ferox (feroc-), 
fierce: see ferocious.'] Fierce; savage; fero- 
cious. 
Nothing so soon tames the madnesse of people as their 
own fierceness and extravagancy : which at length, as S. 
Cyprian observes, tires them by taking away their breath, 
and vainly exhausting their ferocient spirits. 
Bp. Gauden, Tears of the Church, p. 142. 
ferocious (fe-ro'shus), a. [< li.ferox (feroc-), 
wild, bold, savage, fierce, < ferns, wild, savage, 
ferocious disposition; ferocious savages; a fe- 
rocious lion. 
The room speedily became crammed to suffocation by 
Turcomans, whose curiosity was little short of ferocious. 
O'Donovan, Merv, xv. 
2. Indicating or expressive of ferocity: as, a 
ferocious look. 
ferrandine 
In pathetic contrast with the ferocity of vengeful Achil- 
les is the tenderness with which Priam, Hecuba, anil An- 
dromache wail for their fallen one. 
N. A. Rev., CXXXIX. 461. 
The Turcomans display great fondness for dumb ani- 
mals, and it was remarkable to see men of known ferocity 
exhibit the greatest tenderness to various pets. 
O'Donovan, Merv, xxiii. 
= Syn. Savageness, barbarity, inhumanity, ruthlessness, 
mereilessness, brutality. 
feroher (fe-ro'h6r), . [Pahlavi (also written 
frohar, feruer, ferver), < Zend fravashi, of 
doubtful etymology.] 1. One of an order of be- 
ings, the life-principles or geniuses or tutelary 
spirits of living beings, believed in and rever- 
enced by the 
ancient Per- 
sians, adher- 
ents of the Zo- 
roastrian reli- 
gion. 2. A 
name given, 
very question- 
ably, to a sym- 
bol seen on 
monuments Of Feroher. 
ancient Per- ( From Bonomi's" Nineveh and its Palaces.") 
sian origin, 
representing a winged circle, with or without a 
manlike figure in it, hovering over the head of 
a king or other person, and believed by some to 
represent his tutelary spirit. 
fer oligiste (fer ol-e-zhest'). [F. : fer, < L. 
fcrrum, iron ; oligiste, < Gr. bUyiaroc, , smperl. of 
nlfOf. few, little, small.] Anhydrous iron ses- 
quioxid, otherwise called hematite or specular 
iron ore. 
Feronia (fe-ro'ni-a), )(. [L., an old Italian de- 
ity, related to Tellus, the patron of freedmen ; 
a Sabine word.] 1. A genus of rutaceous 
plants allied to the orange, of a single species, 
F. elephantum, a native of tropical India and 
Java. It is a thorny tree with pinnate leaves and white 
flowers, and bears an acid fruit which is known as the 
elephant- or wood-apple. This is eaten, and used for jel- 
lies, and also as a medicine, in the same way as the nearly 
related bel, or Bengal quince. The tree exudes a gum re- 
sembling gum arabic, and the wood is used in house-build- 
ing and for other purposes. 
2. In entom. : (a) A genus of adephagous bee- 
tles, of the family Carabida;, or giving name to 
the Feroniidre. It is synonymous in part with 
Paicilus of Bonelli, in part with Alolops of the 
same author. Latreille, 1817. (b) A genus of 
dipterous insects. W. E. Leach, 1817. [Obso- 
lete.] 
Feroniidaet (fer-6-ni'i-de), w. pi. [NL., < Fero- 
nia + -idte.~\ A family of caraboid beetles, 
taking name from the genus Feronia. Also 
Feronidce, Feronldes. 
ferosh, n. SeeferasJi. 
ferourt, n.- See farrier. 
A maystur of horsys a squyer ther is, 
Aueyner and/erowr vndur hym I wys. 
Babeei Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 319. 
e'rus), a. [= F. feroce = Pr. feroce 
g. feroz = It. feroce, < L. ferus, wild, 
see fierce.'] Wild; savage; feral. 
savage: 
[Rare.] 
And in this he had a special aim, and hope also, to es- 
tablish Christian laws among infidels ; and, by domestical, 
to chace away those feroun and indomitable creatures that 
infested the land. Wilson, James I. 
Slow rose a form, in majesty of mud ; 
Shaking the horrors of his sable brows, 
And each/eraoi feature grim with ooze. 
Pope, Dunciad, ii. 328. 
-ferous. [< L. -fer + E. -ous : see -fer.] The 
terminal element, meaning 'bearing' or 'pro- 
ducing,' in some compound adjectives, with 
..... --------- English nouns in -fer (and New Latin forms in 
=Syn. 1. Untamed, cruel, fell, ruthless, relentless, piti- -/er(also -ferns), m., -/era, f., -ferum, neut.): as, 
less, merciless, brutal, inhuman, sanguinary, bloody, fu- coniferous, cone-bearing; bacciferous, berry-pro- 
ducing; auriferous, gold-producing; pestiferous, 
pest-producing. 
ferraget, >< Same as ferriage. 
ferociously (fe-rp'shus-li), adv. Ina fierce man- 
ner; fiercely; with ferocity or savage cruelty. 
ferociousness (fe-ro'shus-nes), n. The quality 
of being ferocious ; savage fierceness ; cruelty ; 
ferocity. 
It [Christianity] has abated the ferociousness of war. \ 
II. Blair, Works, I. vi. 
ferocity (f e-ros'i-ti ), n. [< F. ferocite = Pr. fe- 
rocitat = Sp. ferociaad = Pg. ferocidade = It. 
ferocita, < L. ferocita(t-)s, fierceness, < ferox 
(feroc-), fierce: see fierce.] The quality of be- 
ing ferocious ; ferocious or fierce character or 
disposition; savage wildness or fierceness; fury; 
cruelty: as, the ferocity of barbarians. 
An uncommon ferocity in my countenance, with the re- 
markable flatness of my nose, and extent of my mouth, 
have procured me the name of lion. Addison, Guardian. 
The atrocious opinions that were prevalent concerning 
the guilt of heresy produced in many minds an extreme 
and most active firocity. Lecky, Europ. Morals, II. 198. 
Peaffe. Monie paid for passage ouer sea, in a shippe, or 
over the water in a ferrie ; ferrage pay. Xomendator. 
ferrandinet, farrandinet (fer'-, far'an-din), 
. [Also farrendine, farandain, farendone, a 
tuff so called appar. on account of its color, 
< OF. ferrandin, iron-gray, < ferrant, ferrand, 
ferant, ferand, iron-gray (as a noun, an iron- 
gray horse, a horse in general), < fer, < L. 
ferrum, iron: see ferreouj, farrier."] A kind 
of cloth, partly of silk and partly of wool or 
hair. 
I know a great Lady that cannot follow her Husband 
abroad to his Haunts, because her Farrandine is so ragged 
and greasy. Wycherley, Love in a Wood, v. 
With my taylor to buy a silk suit, . . . and, after long 
resolution of having nothing but black, I did buy a col- 
oured silk/cnajn/Ki. Ptpwt, Diary, II. 245. 
