English
Indian feather moss
From Indian + feather + moss, thus called because the calyptra of the plant allegedly resembles the feather in some Native American headdresseshttps://web.archive.org/web/20240710073137/http://floranorthamerica.org/Timmia_megapolitana_subsp._megapolitana
Formed from Indian + feather + moss
Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- ‘to fly’
…
Proto-Germanic *feþrō
Proto-West Germanic *feþru
Old English feþer
Middle English fethere ‘a wing feather’
English feather
Proto-Indo-European *mews-
Proto-Germanic *musą ‘bog, moss’
Proto-West Germanic *mos
Old English mos ‘bog, marsh, moss’
Middle English mos
English moss
The story
From Indian + feather + moss, thus called because the calyptra of the plant allegedly resembles the feather in some Native American headdresseshttps://web.archive.org/web/20240710073137/http://floranorthamerica.org/Timmia_megapolitana_subsp._megapolitana
Today it means
noun moss of the species Timmia megapolitana.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Indian feather moss