Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A fern of the genus Adiantum, particularly A. Capillus-Veneris, a native of North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, China, and Japan, and A. pedatum, a native of North America from Canada southward, Hindustan, Japan, and Manchuria.
- noun A stuff in use for garments in the fourteenth century.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Bot.) Any of various small to large terrestrial ferns of the genus Adiantum having very slender graceful stalks and delicate palmately branched fronds, especially (
Adiantum pedatum ). It is common in the United States, and is sometimes used in medicine. The name is also applied to other species of the same genus, as to the Venus-hair.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Either of two species of
fern with delicate, hair-like stalks, especially Adiantum capillus-veneris. - noun Designating various types of
moss or flowering plants. - noun North America Either of two
ericaceous plants, the creeping snowberry or thecheckerberry .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun any of various small to large terrestrial ferns of the genus Adiantum having delicate palmately branched fronds
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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What it is: The extract of the leaves of the ginkgo plant (also known as the maidenhair tree).
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What it is: The extract of the leaves of the ginkgo plant (also known as the maidenhair tree).
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And all about them were ferns, a score of varieties, from the tiny gold-backs and maidenhair to huge brakes six and eight feet tall.
Chapter XXIV 2010
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On the steep incline above the spring grew tiny maidenhair ferns, while higher up were larger ferns and brakes.
Chapter VIII 2010
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For an urban tree, he likes the gingko or maidenhair tree, a living fossil from prehistoric times that turns bright yellow in fall before dropping its leaves all at once.
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They started their horses, but a dog-tooth violet, shouldering amongst the maidenhair, caught her eye and made her rein in again.
Chapter XXIV 2010
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When Rebekka falls ill, Lina treats her with a mixture of herbs: devil's bit, mugwort, Saint-John's-wort, maidenhair, and periwinkle.
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The most important thing is to water the maidenhair fern every day.
Portobello Ruth Rendell 2010
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Incipient polyploid speciation in the maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum, adiantaceae)?
On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with... 2009
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Incipient polyploid speciation in the maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum, adiantaceae)?
On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with... 2009
slumry commented on the word maidenhair
The generic name, Adiantum, Greek for “unwetted,” refers to the fronds’ water repellency. The specific name, pedatum, is Latin for “like a (bird’s) foot” and refers to the splayed pinnae. The common name, maidenhair fern, appears to be an inexact translation of capillus-veneris, (literally, “Venus’s hair”), the epithet of a different species found in subtropical regions of both the Old and New Worlds. (Venus’s hair is a good choice for gardeners whose climate is too warm to grow A. pedatum.)
http://www.motherearthliving.com/plant-profile/an-herb-to-know-46.aspx
The etymology appears to be a little more circuitous than Wiktionary would have it.
August 15, 2015