bracken
/ˈbɹækən/ noun, proper noun
Forms brackens
- noun (uncountable, countable) Any of several coarse ferns, of the genus Pteridium, that form dense thickets; often poisonous to livestock.
- noun (uncountable) An area of countryside heavily populated by this fern.
- proper noun A surname.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Huntington County, Indiana, United States.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Webster County, Missouri, United States, named after Bracken Creek.
- proper noun A village in the Rural Municipality of Lone Tree No. 18, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Synonyms
Pteridium esculentum pasture brake brake Pteridium aquilinum
Etymology
From Middle English braken, probably of Scandinavian/North Germanic origin, from Old Norse *brakni (“undergrowth”), related to Proto-Germanic *brekaną and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break”). Cognates include Danish bregne and Swedish bräken (“fern”).
* As an Irish surname, from Ó Breacáin (“descendant of Breacán”), from Breacán, a name diminutive of breac (“spotted”)
* As an English surname, from Middle English bracken (“fern”)
* As an English habitational surname, from Bracon Ash in Norfolk, Bracken in Yorkshire
* As a German surname, from Middle Low German braak (“fallow”)
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [OE. braken, AS. bracce. See 2d Brake, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bracken”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details