[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/fern/)

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# fern

noun (a fern, ferns)

«fern» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A fern is a green plant with no flowers and long feathery leaves called fronds. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fern/#m1)
2. Ferns make new plants from tiny spores, not seeds; the spores grow in brown dots under the fronds. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fern/#m2)

### In the lessons

In science lessons on plant groups, ferns are an old group of plants that lived before the dinosaurs; giant tree ferns made coal. They like damp, shady places like woods and rainforests. Young fronds unroll from a curl called a fiddlehead. In New Zealand, the silver fern is a national symbol on sports shirts. Phrases: «tree fern», «fern fronds», «silver fern», «fern spores».

### Examples

- Ferns grow in the shady part of the wood. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fern/#x1)
- A fern has no flowers and no seeds. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fern/#x2)
- The brown dots under the leaf are spores. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fern/#x3)
- Dinosaurs walked among giant ferns. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fern/#x4)
- The All Blacks have a silver fern on their shirts. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fern/#x5)
- A baby fern frond is curled up like a snail shell. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fern/#x6)
- She did not seem at all inclined to part with the fern stems. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fern/#x7)

### Note

Plural «ferns». Ferns are not mosses; mosses are smaller and have no real roots. Myth: ferns do not flower at midsummer — that is an old legend.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «fern» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fern/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«fern» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/fern.html) on Mova free.