pterido-

Word Origin

a combining form meaning “fern,” used in the formation of compound words:

pteridology.

Origin

< New Latin, combining form representing Greek pterís (stem pterid-) fern, derivative of pterón feather

Related Words

pteridology
pteridophyte
pteridosperm

pterido-
combining form
⇨ see pterid-

pterido-|pt-, tɛrɪdəʊ|before a vowel pterid-, combining form of Gr. πτερίς, πτεριδ- fern. pteriˈdography [-graphy], a description of ferns. pteriˈdology [-ology], that branch of botany which treats of ferns; hence ˌpteridoˈlogical a., pertaining to pteridology; pteriˈdologist, one versed in the study of ferns. ˌpteridoˈmania nonce-wd., a mania or enthusiasm for ferns. pteriˈdophilist [Gr. ϕίλ-ος loving], a lover of ferns; so pteriˈdophilism, love of ferns. ˈpteridophyte [ad. mod.L. Pteridophyta pl. (E. Haeckel Generelle Morphologie der Organismen (1866) II. p. xxxix), f. Gr. ϕυτόν plant], a member of the Pteridophyta, a division of plants including the ferns and their allies; a vascular cryptogam; also attrib.; so pteridoˈphytic a. ˈpteridosperm [ad. mod.L. Pteridospermeæ (Oliver & Scott (1904) in Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. CXCVII. 239)], a fossil plant belonging to the class Pteridospermeæ or the order Pteridospermales, which include seed-bearing plants resembling ferns.1884Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 299 The..literature..of *Pteridography and Palæontology.1854Phytologist V. 151 The author intends the ‘glossary’ as a general, not as a *pteridological one.1892Gard. Chron. 27 Aug. 245/1 The British Pteridological Society.1845E. Newman in Phytologist I. 273, I am disposed to believe that our *Pteridologists have rarely taken that comprehensive view of the characters of ferns which is requisite for their classification in accordance with nature.1856W. L. Lindsay Pop. Hist. Brit. Lichens 13 Many ladies have..taken a high stand as Algologists and Pteridologists.1866Moore in Treas. Bot. 917 One of the principal genera into which the old genus Aspidium is broken up by modern pteridologists.1979N.Z. Jrnl. Bot. XVII. 98/1 These two eminent pteridologists do not yet entirely agree on a classification for the Cyathaceae.1855G. B. Wollaston in Phytologist New Ser. I. 171, I venture with the greatest diffidence,.. single-handed, into the battle-field of *Pteridology.1866Pall Mall G. 12 Sept. 10 He has studied pteridology for forty years.1882Moore in Gard. Chron. XVII. 672 Mr. James Backhouse, who, in the annals of pteridology is not unknown to fame.1980Nature 7 Feb. 608/1 An overview of the..biochemical, physiological and genetical research which has taken place during the past 40 years in experimental pteridology.1855Kingsley Glaucus (ed. 2) 4 Your daughters..have been seized with the prevailing ‘*Pteridomania’, and are collecting and buying ferns.1969D. E. Allen Victorian Fern Craze p. xi, No one..would have thought of filling empty carboys with greenery and building up their present vogue had not Ward himself first prepared the ground... A twentieth⁓century ‘Pteridomania’?1970New Scientist 7 May 296/1 Pteridomania had many social aspects yet it seems to have been almost forgotten outside botanical circles.1866Pall Mall G. 12 Sept. 10 Our own *pteridophilism being of a less pronounced and practical kind.Ibid., *Pteridophilists being, after all, in plain English, nothing but lovers of ferns.1880C. E. Bessey Botany xx. 437 The epidermis of Angiosperms does not differ in any marked way from that of the Gymnosperms and the *Pteridophytes.1897Nature 11 Nov. 45/2 The bryophyte-like ancestors of the pteridophytes.1910Coulter & Chamberlain Morphol. Gymnosperms i. 4 (heading) Vascular anatomy of pteridophytes.1938J. C. Schoute in F. Verdoorn Man. Pteridol. i. 3 By these discoveries the range of the Pteridophyte canon of morphology was much enlarged.1956B. Cobb Field Guide to Ferns 36 Each of the four classes of the Pteridophytes has its own characteristic behavior in producing, bearing, and propagating its spores.1978Fern Gaz. XI. 349 The pteridophyte flora of Réunion Island is characterized by a high number of species.1898Bot. Gaz. XXV. 305 In *pteridophytic types of embryogeny..it is always possible to distinguish the segment which is the homologue of the originally distal segment.1977A. Hallam Planet Earth 252 This has been effected by the elimination of the free-living sexual stage (prothallus) of the pteridophytic plants.1904Oliver & Scott in Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. CXCVII. 240 The further development of our knowledge of the *Pteridosperms will form one of the chief objects of palæo-botanic investigation in the near future.1931A. C. Seward Plant Life through Ages ix. 147 Evidence..eventually proved that the great majority of the Carboniferous ‘ferns’ were seed-bearing plants—pteridosperms.1940J. Walton Introd. Study of Fossil Plants xi. 138 The seed cupules of the Pteridosperms..were borne on fronds or leaves.1974G. W. Burns Plant Kingdom xix. 449/1 Ovules of the Paleozic pteridosperm Medullosa were probably terminally attached on the pinnae.

pterido- /ˈtɛrɪdəʊ/ combining form of Greek pterid-, pteris fern: see -o-.

DERIVATIVE pteridoˈlogical adjective of or pertaining to pteridology M19.
pteriˈdologist noun an expert in or student of ferns M19.
pteriˈdology noun the branch of botany that deals with ferns M19.
pteridoˈmania noun an excessive enthusiasm for ferns M19.
pteridophyte noun a member of the Pteridophyta, a division of plants including the ferns and their allies (horsetails, clubmosses, etc.); a vascular cryptogam: L19.
pteridophytic /-ˈfɪtɪk/ adjective of or pertaining to pteridophytes L19.
pteridosperm noun a fossil plant of the class Pteridospermeae, comprising plants intermediate between ferns and seed-bearing plants E20.

pterido-
combining form
see pterid-

pterido-
pterid-

Prefix

fern

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πτέρις (ptéris, “fern”).

Derived terms

English words prefixed with pterido-