bracken

Meanings

1. Any of several coarse ferns, of the genus Pteridium, that form dense thickets; often poisonous to livestock.
2. An area of countryside heavily populated by this fern.

1. A surname.
2. An unincorporated community in Huntington County, Indiana, United States.
3. An unincorporated community in Webster County, Missouri, United States, named after Bracken Creek.
4. A village in the Rural Municipality of Lone Tree No. 18, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Etymology

From Middle English braken, probably of Scandinavian/North Germanic origin, from Old Norse *brakni (“undergrowth”), related to Proto-Germanic *brekaną and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break”). Cognates include Danish bregne and Swedish bräken (“fern”).