Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Pteridophyta \Pter`i*doph"y*ta\, n. pl. [NL., from Gr. ?, ?, a
   fern + ? a plant.] (Bot.)
   A class of flowerless plants, embracing ferns, horsetails,
   club mosses, quillworts, and other like plants. See the Note
   under {Cryptogamia}. -- {Pter"i*do*phyte`}, n.

   Note: This is a modern term, devised to replace the older
         ones acrogens and vascular Cryptogamia.

Source : WordNet®

pteridophyte
     n : plants having vascular tissue and reproducing by spores
         [syn: {nonflowering plant}]