different between ferd vs fern

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f??(?)d/
• Rhymes: -??(?)d

Etymology 1

From Middle English ferde, feord, furd, from Old English fierd (“army”), from Proto-West Germanic *fardi, from Proto-Germanic *fardiz (“journey, expedition”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to put across, ferry”). Cognate with Old Frisian ferd, fart (“an expedition, journey”), Old High German fart (“journey”) (German Fahrt), Danish færd (“voyage, travel”). Doublet of fyrd. More at fare.

Noun

ferd (plural ferds)

1. (Scotland, Northern England) Impetus, speed.
2. (obsolete, Scotland, Northern England) A journey.

3. (obsolete) An army, a host.
4. (obsolete) A military expedition.
   • c. 1050, The Paris Psalter

     Þeah þu mid us ne fare on fyrd...

     (Though thou with us not fare on a ferd...)

5. (obsolete) A company, band, or group.
   • c. 1400, The Gest Hystoriale of the Destruction of Troy

     And foure scoure fyne shippes to the flete broght... with fyfty, in a furthe, all of fuerse vesell.

     (And four score fine ships to the fleet brought... with fifty in a ferd, all of fierce vessel.)

   • 1986, Jack Arthur Walter Bennett, Douglas Gray, Middle English literature - Volume 1 - Page 89:

     For him a lord (British or Roman) is essentially a leader of a 'ferd' (OE fyrd); […]

Usage notes

• This word in its Anglo-Saxon form, fyrd, is used historically in a technical sense.

Derived terms

• landfyrd
• shipfyrd
• ferdfare
• ferdwite

Related terms

• here

References

• “ferd”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–, OCLC 57069714
• “ferd”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–, OCLC 57069714

Etymology 2

From Middle English feren (“to fear”). More at fear.

Noun

ferd (usually uncountable, plural ferds)

1. (obsolete) Fear.

Anagrams

• Fred, derf

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse ferð.

Noun

ferd f or m (definite singular ferda or ferden, indefinite plural ferder, definite plural ferdene)

1. journey, voyage, expedition
2. være i verd med (also written as iferd): to be on the point of, to be busy with

Derived terms

• folkeferd n
• gjenferd n
• pilegrimsferd
• triumfferd

References

• “ferd” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “ferd” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse ferð.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fæ?r/, /f?rd/

Noun

ferd f (definite singular ferda, indefinite plural ferder, definite plural ferdene)

1. journey, travel

2. group of people
3. vere i verd med: to be on the point of, to be busy with

Derived terms

• ferdsel
• gjenferd n
• pilegrimsferd
• triumfferd

Verb

ferd

1. imperative of ferda and ferde

References

• “ferd” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

English

Etymology

From Middle English ferne, from Old English fearn, from Proto-West Germanic *farn, from Proto-Indo-European *pornóm (“feather, wing; fern, leaf”), from *p(t)erH- (“fern”). Cognate with West Frisian fear, Dutch varen, German Farn, Lithuanian spar?nas, Avestan ????????????????????????? (par^?na), Kamkata-viri por, Sanskrit ???? (par?á).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /f??n/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /f?n/
• Rhymes: -??(?)n

Noun

fern (plural ferns)

1. Any of a group of some twenty thousand species of vascular plants classified in the division Pteridophyta that lack seeds and reproduce by shedding spores to initiate an alternation of generations.

Synonyms

• (Pteridophyta): Filicophyta (archaic)

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• bracken

Further reading

• fern on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• fren, fren', nerf

German

Etymology

From Old High German ferrana.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f??n/
• Rhymes: -??n

Adjective

fern (comparative ferner, superlative am fernsten)

1. remote
2. far away

Declension

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• “fern” in Duden online
• “fern” in Duden online
• “fern” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Icelandic

Etymology

From the root fer-. Compare tvennur, þrennur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f?rtn/
• Rhymes: -?rtn

Adjective

fern

1. four (used when counting singular nouns, pluralia tantum or groupings (especially pairs) of items, or when the item counted is missing from the sentence or separated by the preposition af (“of”))

   fernir skór – four pairs of shoes

   fernir tónleikar – four concerts (tónleikar is plurale tantum)

   Þetta má gera á fernan hátt. – This can be done in four ways. (háttur cannot be used in its plural form in this sense)

   Það er fernt sem mig vantar. – There are four [things] that I need. (noun omitted)

   Ég vil fá fernt af öllu. – I want four of everything.

Inflection

Derived terms

• ferna

Related terms

• fer-
• fjórir
• tvennur
• þrennur

Middle English

Alternative forms

• vern, fearn, farn, varn, firn

Etymology

From Old English fearn, from Proto-West Germanic *farn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f??rn/, /f?rn/

Noun

fern (plural ferns)

1. fern

Descendants

• English: fern
• Scots: farne, fairn
• Yola: fearn

References

• “f??rn, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *wern? (compare Welsh gwern). Cognate with Old Armenian ????? (geran).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f?er?n?/

Noun

fern f (genitive fernae, nominative plural ferna)

1. alder
2. shield (made of alder wood)
3. pole, stake
4. the letter F

Inflection

Descendants

• Irish: fearn
  • ? Irish: fearnóg
• Manx: farney
• Scottish Gaelic: feàrna

Mutation

Old Saxon

Noun

fern m

1. Alternative form of infern