English
filiciform
Filiciform comes from Latin filix ‘fern’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *feleks.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*feleksreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfilix‘fern’
- Englishearliest quotation 1822filiciform
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*feleksreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfilix‘fern’
- Englishearliest quotation 1822filiciform
Earliest quotation: 1822, William Daniel Conybeare, William Phillips: “Filiciform leaves”.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‘henbane’
ball, bowl, bell, bull, bold, flame, bald, blaze, boil, bale, blush, blur, bleach, blizzard, bolster, budge, sabha, blemish, bola, phlegm, phallus, bolero, phlox, blain, blithe, bleat, 73 more
Today it means
adj Shaped like a fern or like the parts of a fern leaf.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *feleks / filiciform