thorn

thorn

See also: Thorn and þorn

English

thorns of a plant (sense 1)

upper- and lower-case versions of the thorn character (sense 4)

Etymology

From Middle English thorn, þorn, from Old English þorn, from Proto-West Germanic *þornu, from Proto-Germanic *þurnuz, from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥nós, from *(s)ter- (“stiff”).

cognates

Near cognates include West Frisian toarn, Low German Doorn, Dutch doorn, German Dorn, Danish and Norwegian torn, Swedish torn, törne, Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽𐌿𐍃 (þaurnus). Further cognates include Old Church Slavonic трънъ (trŭnŭ, “thorn”), Russian тёрн (tjorn), Polish cierń, Sanskrit तृण (tṛ́ṇa, “grass”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /θɔːn/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /θoɹn/, [θo̞ɹn]

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)n

• (without the horse–hoarse merger)
  • (rhotic) IPA^(key): /θɔːɹn/
  • (non-rhotic) IPA^(key): /θɔːn/

Noun

thorn (plural thorns)

1. (botany) A sharp protective spine of a plant.
2. Any shrub or small tree that bears thorns, especially a hawthorn.

   the white thorn

   the cockspur thorn

3. (figurative) That which pricks or annoys; anything troublesome.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 2 Corinthians 12:7:

     There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me.

   • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), 6th edition, London: […] J[ames] Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1727, OCLC 21766567:

     The guilt of empire, all its thorns and cares, / Be only mine.

4. A letter of Latin script (capital: Þ, small: þ), borrowed from the futhark; today used only in Icelandic to represent the voiceless dental fricative, but originally used in several early Germanic scripts, including Old English where it represented the dental fricatives that are today written th (Old English did not have phonemic voicing distinctions for fricatives).
   • See also Etymology of ye (definite article).

Derived terms

• thorn apple
• thorn broom (Calicotome spp.)
• thornbush
• thorn devil (Moloch horridus)
• thorn hopper (Centrotus cornutus)
• thorn in one's side
• Thornton
• thornen
• thorny

Translations

sharp protective spine of a plant

Albanian: ferrë (sq) Abaza: мгъы (mɣə) Afar: keena Afrikaans: doring Arabic: أَسَلَة‎ f (ʾasala), شَوْكَة‎ (šawka) Egyptian Arabic: شوك‎ m (šōk) (collective), شوكة‎ f (šōka) (singulative) Archi: цац (cac) Armenian: փուշ (hy) (pʿuš) Aromanian: schin Assamese: কাঁইট (kãit), কঁটা (kõta) Avar: заз (zaz) Aymara: ch'aphi Azerbaijani: tikan (az) Basque: arantza, elorri Bhojpuri: please add this translation if you can Bikol Central: tunok Bulgarian: трън (bg) m (trǎn), бодил (bg) m (bodil) Burmese: ဆူး (my) (hcu:) Catalan: aculi (ca), espina (ca), eculi (ca), agulló (ca), fibló (ca) Cebuano: tunok Central Melanau: duwei Chamicuro: kajpayi Chinese: Mandarin: 刺 (zh) (cì), 荊棘／荆棘 (zh) (jīngjí) Cornish: dren m Crimean Tatar: (please verify) tiken (northern dialect tegenek) Czech: trn (cs) m, osten Dalmatian: spaina f Danish: torn (da) c Dutch: doorn (nl) m Egyptian: (srt f) Esperanto: dorno Estonian: astel, okas Faroese: tornur m, torn f Finnish: piikki (fi), oka (fi), ora (fi), ota (fi), oas (fi) French: épine (fr) f Friulian: spine f, spin Galician: espiña (gl) f, sevia f, áscura f, espunlla f, puga f Georgian: ეკალი (eḳali) German: Dorn (de) m Greek: αγκάθι (el) n (agkáthi) Ancient: ἄκανθα f (ákantha) Hebrew: שַׁיִת‎ (he) m (shayit), קֹוץ‎ (he) m (kotz) Higaonon: dugi Hiligaynon: tunok Hindi: काँटा (hi) m (kā̃ṭā) Hungarian: tüske (hu), tövis (hu) Indonesian: duri (id) Irish: dealg f Italian: spina (it) f, aculeo (it) Japanese: 刺 (ja) (とげ, toge), 棘 (ja) (とげ, toge), 茨 (ja) (とげ, toge), 荊 (ja) (とげ, toge) Jarai: drơi Javanese: ꦲꦼꦫꦶ (jv) (eri) Khmer: បន្លា (km) (bɑnlaa) Kikuyu: mũigua class 3 Korean: 가시 (ko) (gasi) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: دِڕوو‎ (dirrû) Laki: دِڕک‎ (ku) (dirrk) Northern Kurdish: strî (ku), dirrî (ku) Southern Kurdish: دِڕِگ‎ (dirrig) Lao: ໜາມ (nām) Latgalian: ierškiezs m Latin: spīna f Latvian: ērkšķis m, dzelonis (lv) m Lezgi: цаз (caz) Lithuanian: rakis Low German: Doorn m Luhya: kumwiva Macedonian: трн m (trn) Malay: duri Manchu: ᠪᡠᠯᠠ (bula), ᠰᠠᡳᡥᡡᠸᠠ (saihūwa) Maori: ngita Maranao: tenek Mon: ဓလ (həlɛ̀ˀ) Ngazidja Comorian: shiɓa class 7/8 North Frisian: Tuurn m (Sylt) Norwegian: Bokmål: torn (no) m Nynorsk: torn m Occitan: espina (oc) f Old English: þorn m Old Javanese: duri, rwi Ottoman Turkish: دیكن‎ (diken) Pashto: اغزی‎ (ps) m (aγzai) Persian: خار‎ (fa) (xâr) Polabian: dren m Polish: kolec (pl) m, cierń (pl) m Portuguese: espinho (pt), acúleo (pt) Quechua: t'uksi, kichka (qu), kaşa Romanian: spin (ro), ghimpe (ro) Romansch: spina f, spegna f Russian: шип (ru) m (šip), колю́чка (ru) f (koljúčka) Saho: keena Sanskrit: कण्टक (sa) m or n (kaṇṭaka) Sardinian: ispina f, spina f Scottish Gaelic: stob m, droigheann m, dealg f Serbo-Croatian: trn (sh) m Slovak: tŕň (sk) m Somali: qodax Spanish: espina (es) f Sundanese: rucuk Swahili: mwiba (sw) class 3/4 Swedish: törne (sv) c Tagalog: tinik Tausug: tunuk Telugu: ముల్లు (te) (mullu), కంటకము (te) (kaṇṭakamu) Thai: หนาม (th) (nǎam) Turkish: diken (tr) Urdu: کانٹا‎ m (kā̃ṭā) Vietnamese: gai (vi) Welsh: draenen f West Frisian: toarne c Western Bukidnon Manobo: duɣi Yiddish: דאָרן‎ m (dorn) ǃXóõ: gǃqhàẽ

any shrub or small tree that bears thorns

Bulgarian: трън (bg) m (trǎn) Finnish: piikkipensas

figuratively: that which pricks

Finnish: piikki (fi) Greek: Ancient: σκόλοψ m (skólops)

letter of the Latin alphabet (Þ, þ)

Belarusian: торн m (torn) Bulgarian: торн m (torn) Esperanto: dorno Faroese: torn n Finnish: thorn (fi) French: thorn (fr) m Icelandic: þorn n Korean: 손 (ko) (son) Macedonian: торн m (torn) Norwegian: thorn m Old English: þorn Russian: торн (ru) (torn) Spanish: thorn (es) m Swahili: ba Ukrainian: торн m (torn) ǃXóõ: gǃhàã

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Afrikaans: (please verify) doring Albanian: (please verify) gjemb (sq) m Dutch: (please verify) doorn (nl) m Esperanto: (please verify) dorno German: (please verify) Dorn (de) m Icelandic: (please verify) þorn Indonesian: (please verify) duri (id) Romanian: (please verify) spin (ro) m, (please verify) ghimpe (ro) m Serbo-Croatian: (please verify) trn (sh) m Serbo-Croatian: (please verify) trn (sh) m

Verb

thorn (third-person singular simple present thorns, present participle thorning, simple past and past participle thorned)

1. To pierce with, or as if with, a thorn (sharp pointed object).
   • 1869, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Old Town Folks‎:

     […] human nature is, above all things, lazy, and needs to be thorned and goaded up those heights where it ought to fly.

   • 2003, Scott D. Zachary, Scorn This, page 175:

     Even Judge Bradley's callused sentiments were thorned by the narration of Jaclyn's journals.

Translations

to pierce with, or as if with, a thorn

Bulgarian: бода (bg) (boda) Galician: espiñar (gl) Portuguese: espinhar (pt)

See also

• eth, edh, eð, ð
• wynn, wen, ƿ
• ᚦ

Further reading

• thorn on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Thorns, spines, and prickles on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Thorn (letter) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• North, Rt Hon, Rt. Hon., north

---

Middle English

Alternative forms

• thorne, thron, þorn, þorne, þron

Etymology

Inherited from Old English þorn, from Proto-West Germanic *þorn, from Proto-Germanic *þurnaz, from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥nós.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θɔrn/, /θoːrn/, /θrɔn/

Noun

thorn (plural thornes)

1. A thorn (spine on a plant with a sharp point)
2. Thorn or eth (the letter þ and/or ð)
3. A plant having thorns, especially the hawthorn or rosebush.
4. (rare) Thorns pulled from the ground for burning.
5. (rare) A dish incorporating hawthorn.

Derived terms

• hawthorn
• thevethorn
• thornbak
• thornen
• thornetre
• thorny

 

Descendants

• English: thorn
• Scots: thorn; torn (Shetland)
• Yola: thoornes, thorns, thurns

References

• “thorn, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-09-12.

---

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *þornu (“thorn, sloe”).

Cognates

Germanic cognates include Old English þorn (English thorn), Dutch doorn, Old High German thorn (German Dorn), Old Norse þorn (Swedish törne), Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽𐌿𐍃 (þaurnus). The Indo-European root is also the source of Old Church Slavonic трънъ (trŭnŭ) (Russian тёрн (tjorn, “sloe, blackthorn”)), Sanskrit तृण (tṛṇa, “grass”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θɔrn/

Noun

thorn m

1. thorn; thorny bush

Declension

Declension of thorn (masculine a-stem)

	singular	plural
nominative	thorn	thornos
accusative	thorn	thornos
genitive	thornes	thornō
dative	thorne	thornum
instrumental	—	—

Descendants

• Middle Low German: dōrn
  • German Low German: Däörn, Doorn, Dorn, Durn