From OE 'fearn,' from PIE *pornóm (fern, feather) — named for the feather-like shape of its fronds.
A flowerless plant of the class Polypodiopsida, with feathery fronds that uncurl from a coiled fiddlehead, reproducing by spores rather than seeds.
From Old English 'fearn' (fern), from Proto-Germanic *farną (fern), from PIE *pornóm (fern, feather), related to the root *per- (feather, wing) or possibly *pterh₂- (feather, wing). The word is literally 'the feathery plant,' reflecting the distinctive feather-like fronds that characterise the family Polypodiopsida. The naming is remarkably apt and ancient: humans across the Indo-European world independently noticed the resemblance between fern fronds and feathers, and this observation was encoded in the very earliest stratum of the language. Sanskrit 'parṇá' (feather, leaf, wing) is a direct cognate, as is Lithuanian 'papartis' (fern), showing the persistence of this metaphor across thousands of miles and thousands of years. The Old English form 'fearn' survived into Modern English virtually
In Slavic folklore, the fern was believed to bloom on the eve of Ivan Kupala (Midsummer Night). Whoever found the fern flower would gain the power to understand all languages, find hidden treasure, and become invisible. The catch: ferns do not flower. They reproduce by spores. The impossibility of the quest was the point — the fern flower represented unattainable perfection.