[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

fern \fern\, adv.
   long ago. obs. --chaucer.
   1913 webster

[2] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

fern \fern\, a. as. fyrn.
   ancient; old. obs. "pilgrimages to . . . ferne halwes."
   saints. --chaucer.
   1913 webster

[3] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

fern \fern\ f~ern, n. as. fearn; akin to d. varen, g. farn,
   farnkraut; cf. skr. par.na wing, feather, leaf, sort of
   plant, or lith. papartis fern. bot.
   an order of cryptogamous plants, the filices, which have
   their fructification on the back of the fronds or leaves.
   they are usually found in humid soil, sometimes grow
   epiphytically on trees, and in tropical climates often attain
   a gigantic size.
   1913 webster

   note: the plants are asexual, and bear clustered sporangia,
         containing minute spores, which germinate and form
         prothalli, on which are borne the true organs of
         reproduction. the brake or bracken, the maidenhair, and
         the polypody are all well known ferns.
         1913 webster

   christmas fern. see under christmas.

   climbing fern bot., a delicate north american fern
      lygodium palmatum, which climbs several feet high over
      bushes, etc., and is much sought for purposes of
      decoration.

   fern owl. zool.
   a the european goatsucker.
   b the short-eared owl. prov. eng. -- fern shaw, a fern
      thicket. eng. --r. browning.
      1913 webster
see also:
filices christmas fern christmas climbing fern lygodium palmatum fern owl 
fern shaw 

[4] : WordNet (r) 2.0

fern
     n : any of numerous flowerless and seedless vascular plants
         having true roots from a rhizome and fronds that uncurl
         upward; reproduce by spores

[5] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

65 moby thesaurus words for "fern":
   calamites, cycadofilicales, filicales, selaginellaceae, sigillaria,
   algae, autophyte, bean, bracken, brown algae, calamite, climber,
   conferva, confervoid, creeper, cycadofilicales, diatom, equisetum,
   filicoids, fruits and vegetables, fucus, fungus, grapevine,
   green algae, gulfweed, herb, heterophyte, ivy, kelp, legume,
   lentil, lepidodendrids, lepidodendroids, liana, lichen, liverwort,
   mold, moss, mushroom, parasite, parasitic plant, pea, perthophyte,
   phytoplankton, planktonic algae, plant families, puffball, pulse,
   red algae, rockweed, rust, saprophyte, sargasso, sargassum,
   sea lentil, sea moss, sea wrack, seaweed, smut, succulent,
   toadstool, vetch, vine, wort, wrack

Fern >> F Words
Fern, definition of term: Fern
fern_pag1.html

Wall Fern >> W Words
Wall Fern, definition of term: Wall Fern
wall+fern_pag1.html

Stag-Horn Fern >> S Words
Stag-Horn Fern, definition of term: Stag-Horn Fern
stag-horn+fern_pag1.html

Shield Fern >> S Words
Shield Fern, definition of term: Shield Fern
shield+fern_pag1.html

Adders Fern >> A Words
Adders Fern, definition of term: Adders Fern
adders+fern_pag1.html

Staghorn Fern >> S Words
Staghorn Fern, definition of term: Staghorn Fern
staghorn+fern_pag1.html