Chapter Feoffee to Ferret of F by Webster's Dictionary (1913 Edition)

Fern
(Fern) n. [AS. fearn; akin to D. varen, G. farn, farnkraut; cf. Skr. parn.a wing, feather, leaf, sort of plant, or Lith. papartis fern.] (Bot.) An order of cryptogamous plants, the Filices, which have their fructification on the back of the fronds or leaves. They are usually found in humid soil, sometimes grow epiphytically on trees, and in tropical climates often attain a gigantic size.

The plants are asexual, and bear clustered sporangia, containing minute spores, which germinate and form prothalli, on which are borne the true organs of reproduction. The brake or bracken, the maidenhair, and the polypody are all well known ferns.

Christmas fern. See under Christmas. — Climbing fern (Bot.), a delicate North American fern (Lygodium palmatum), which climbs several feet high over bushes, etc., and is much sought for purposes of decoration. — Fern owl. (Zoöl.) (a) The European goatsucker. (b) The short-eared owl. [Prov. Eng.] — Fern shaw, a fern thicket. [Eng.] R. Browning.

Fernery
(Fern"er*y) n. A place for rearing ferns.

Fernticle
(Fern"ti*cle) n. A freckle on the skin, resembling the seed of fern. [Prov. Eng.]

Ferny
(Fern"y) a. Abounding in ferns.

Ferocious
(Fe*ro"cious) a. [L. ferox, -ocis, fierce: cf. F. féroce. See Ferocity.] Fierce; savage; wild; indicating cruelty; ravenous; rapacious; as, ferocious look or features; a ferocious lion.

The humbled power of a ferocious enemy.

Lowth.

Syn. — Ferocious, Fierce, Savage, Barbarous. When these words are applied to human feelings or conduct, ferocious describes the disposition; fierce, the haste and violence of an act; barbarous, the coarseness and brutality by which it was marked; savage, the cruel and unfeeling spirit which it showed. A man is ferocious in his temper, fierce in his actions, barbarous in the manner of carrying out his purposes, savage in the spirit and feelings expressed in his words or deeds.

— Fe*ro"cious*ly, adv. — Fe*ro"cious*ness, n.

It [Christianity] has adapted the ferociousness of war.

Blair.

Ferocity
(Fe*roc"i*ty) n. [L. ferocitas, fr. ferox, -ocis, fierce, kin to ferus wild: cf. F. ferocité. See Fierce.] Savage wildness or fierceness; fury; cruelty; as, ferocity of countenance.

The pride and ferocity of a Highland chief.

Macaulay.

Feroher
(||Fer*o"her) n. (Archæol.) A symbol of the solar deity, found on monuments exhumed in Babylon, Nineveh, etc.

Ferous
(Fe"rous) a. [L. ferus. See Fierce.] Wild; savage. [R.] Arthur Wilson.

- ferous
(-fer*ous) [L. -fer. fr. ferre to bear. See Bear to support.] A suffix signifying bearing, producing, yielding; as, auriferous, yielding gold; chyliferous, producing chyle.

Ferrandine
(Fer*ran"dine) n. [F.; cf. OF. ferrant iron-gray, from L. ferrum iron.] A stuff made of silk and wool.

I did buy a colored silk ferrandine.

Pepys.

Ferrara
(Fer*ra"ra) n. A sword bearing the mark of one of the Ferrara family of Italy. These swords were highly esteemed in England and Scotland in the 16th and 17th centuries.