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
- Any of a group of some twenty thousand species of...
Ancestry of “fern”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | fern | — |
| 2 | Old English | fearn | fern |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | farn | fern |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | pornóm | feather, wing; fern, leaf |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |
Words derived from “fern”