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Glite Dictionary
wood fern

wood fern

6.5
A plant with divided, lacy leaves that grows in woods
  • noun
  • /wʊd fɜrn/
translation icon : helecho de madera
  • In the forest, the wood fern thrives in shady areas with its lush green fronds.

Examples

  • The gardener planted several types of wood ferns to provide a natural look to the landscape.

  • Ferns carpeting great expanses of the forest floor include Christmas and hayscented ferns, and the common and toothed wood ferns.

    Academic text (2011)

  • While hiking, I noticed the tall wood fern growing alongside the path in the damp woodland.

Synonyms

woodfern
vswood fern
8.6

A type of fern that grows in woods

has identical meaning but uses slightly different phrasing
wood-fern
vswood fern
  • Specialized
7.5

A fern with divided leaves that grows in shady woods

focuses on the general genus and habitat rather than frond detail
Dryopteris
vswood fern
  • Specialized
9.9

A garden fern with feathery leaves that grows in shady places

is the common, habitat-based name rather than the scientific label

Surface Forms

wood fern singular
wood ferns plural

Morphology

wood + fern

The meaning 'a fern found in woodland areas' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'wood' (wooded area) with 'fern' (a type of plant). This noun+noun compounding is a common, cross-linguistic compositional pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reliably infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Wood fern: The compound noun wood fern names a type of fern that grows in the wood, meaning shady places under trees where these plants are common. So the name simply means 'a fern commonly found in wooded areas'.