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bracken

 - 3 dictionary results

brack⋅en

  [brak-uhn]
Use bracken in a Sentence
–noun
1. a large fern or brake, esp. Pteridium aquilinum.
2. a cluster or thicket of such ferns; an area overgrown with ferns and shrubs.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME braken < Scand; cf. Sw bräken fern, Norw brake juniper

Related forms:
brackened, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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brack·en   (brāk'ən)   
n.  

  1. A widespread, often weedy fern (Pteridium aquilinum) having large, triangular, pinnately compound fronds and often forming dense thickets.

  2. An area overgrown with this fern.


[Middle English braken, probably of Scandinavian origin; see bhreg- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

bracken 
"coarse fern," c.1325, northern England word, from a Scand. source (cf. Dan. bregne, Sw. bräken "fern").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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