Etymograph

English

ferny

Ferny comes from Middle English ferny ‘full of fern or bracken’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *p(t)erH-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*p(t)erH-‘fern’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*farn‘fern’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150fearn‘fern’
  4. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150fearniġ
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ferny‘full of fern or bracken’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1922same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*p(t)erH-‘fern’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*farn‘fern’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150fearn‘fern’
  4. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150fearniġ
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ferny‘full of fern or bracken’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1922same form

Earliest quotation: 1922, Katherine Mansfield, At the Bay: “And from the bush there came the sound of…”

Formed from fern + -y

Proto-Indo-European *p(t)erH-

…

Proto-Germanic *farnaz

Proto-West Germanic *farn

Old English fearn

Middle English fern

English fern

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *p(t)erH-

Today it means

adj Of or pertaining to ferns.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *p(t)erH- / ferny

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