maidenhair
English
Etymology
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈmeɪdənhɛː/
Noun
maidenhair (countable and uncountable, plural maidenhairs)
- (uncountable) a woman's pubic hair
- Either of two species of genus Adiantum of fern with delicate, hair-like stalks, especially Adiantum capillus-veneris
- 1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society 2007, p. 178:
- Our common Maidenhair does from a number of hard black fibres, send forth a great many blacking shining brittle stalks, hardly a span long [...].
- 1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society 2007, p. 178:
- Designating various types of moss or flowering plants.
- 2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, BCA 2003, p. 318:
- The ‘maidenhair’ in maidenhair moss, for instance, does not refer to the hair on the maiden's head.
- 2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, BCA 2003, p. 318:
- (Canada, US, now regional) Either of two ericaceous plants, the creeping snowberry or the checkerberry.
Synonyms
- (fern): maidenhair fern
Derived terms
Translations
fern
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