fern
/fɝn/noun
fern is spelled F-E-R-N: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Fern, the name). As a noun, fern means “Any of a group of some twenty thousand species of vascular plants classified in the division Pteridophyta that lack seeds and reproduce by shedding…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of fern is ferns.
How many letters and syllables are in fern?
| Letters | 4: F-E-R-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.9 times per million words; the 20,356th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is fern?
Fern appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Fern, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce fern?
- UK /fɜːn/
- US /fɝn/
- Australia /fɜːn/
Fern has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-fern.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with fern?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as fern from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹn/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: nerf, fren.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of fern
- ferns plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does fern mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of a group of some twenty thousand species of vascular plants classified in the division Pteridophyta that lack seeds and reproduce by shedding spores to initiate an alternation of generations.
- 2
A light green color inspired by the color of ferns.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Fern in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense plant:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fougère |
| German | Farn, Farnkraut |
| Portuguese | samambaia, feto |
| Spanish | helecho, shapumba, yogo, calimete |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does fern come from?
From Middle English fern, from Old English fearn, from Proto-West Germanic *farn, from Proto-Germanic *farnaz (“fern”), from Proto-Indo-European *pornóm (“feather, wing; fern, leaf”), from *p(t)erH- (“fern”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).