Where does “fern” come from?

Fern comes from Middle English ferne, from Old English feorran and feorr, both ultimately from Proto-Indo-European per- and pr̥tós, roots meaning to go or pass through.

fern (English): Any of a group of some twenty thousand species of...

Definitions

  1. Any of a group of some twenty thousand species of...

Ancestry of “fern”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishfernfern plant of the division
2Old Englishfearnfern
3Proto-West Germanicfarnfern
4Proto-Indo-Europeanpornómfeather, wing; fern, leaf
5Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
6Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed

Words derived from “fern”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →