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thorn . In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
thorn , but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
thorn in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
thorn you have here. The definition of the word
thorn will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
thorn , as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
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 , Kamkata-viri taňí , taí ( “ thorn ” ) , Sanskrit तृण ( tṛ́ṇa , “ grass ” ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
thorn (plural thorns )
( botany ) A sharp protective spine of a plant.
1895 , J[ohn] W[esley] Powell , chapter I, in Canyons of the Colorado , Meadville, PA: Flood & Vincent; republished as The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons , New York: Dover , 1961 , →ISBN , →OCLC , page 22 :On the mountains a few junipers and piñons are found, and cactuses, agave, and yuccas, low, fleshy plants with bayonets and thorns .
Any shrub or small tree that bears thorns , especially a hawthorn .
the white thorn
the cockspur thorn
( figurative ) That which pricks or annoys ; anything troublesome.
1692–1717 , Robert South , Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions , 6th edition, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI) , London: J Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, , published 1727 , →OCLC :The guilt of empire, all its thorns and cares, / Be only mine.
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
Translations
sharp protective spine of a plant
Abaza: мгъы ( mɣə )
Afar: keena
Afrikaans: doring
Albanian: ferrë (sq)
Arabic: أَسَلَة f ( ʔasala ) , 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
Bengali: please add this translation if you can
Bhojpuri: please add this translation if you can
Bikol Central: tunok (bcl)
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 , oga (et)
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, いら, ira ) , 棘 (ja) ( とげ, toge ) , 茨 (ja) ( とげ, toge ) , 荊 (ja) ( とげ, toge )
Jarai: drơi
Javanese: ꦲꦼꦫꦶ (jv) ( eri )
Kamkata-vari:
Kamviri: taňí
Kata-vari: taí
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 (ms)
Manchu: ᠪᡠᠯᠠ ( bula ) , ᠰᠠᡳᡥᡡᠸᠠ ( saihūwa )
Maori: ngita
Maranao: tenek
Mon: ဓလ ( həlɛ̀ˀ )
Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
Ngazidja Comorian: shiɓa class 7 /8
North Frisian: Tuurn m ( Sylt )
Northern Thai: ᩉ᩠ᨶᩣ᩠ᨾ
Norwegian:
Bokmål: torn (no) m
Nynorsk: torn m
Occitan: espina (oc) f
Old English: þorn m
Old Javanese: duri , rwi
Ottoman Turkish: دیكن ( diken )
Paiwan: djui
Pashto: اغزی (ps) m ( aγzai )
Persian: خار (fa) ( xâr ) , غاژ (fa) ( ğaž )
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 (so)
Spanish: espina (es) f
Sundanese: rucuk
Swahili: mwiba (sw) class 3 /4
Swedish: törne (sv) c
Sylheti: please add this translation if you can
Tagalog: tinik
Tausug: tunuk
Telugu: ముల్లు (te) ( mullu ) , కంటకము (te) ( kaṇṭakamu )
Thai: หนาม (th) ( nǎam )
Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
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 )
Zande: kiwe
ǃXóõ: gǃqhàẽ
any shrub or small tree that bears thorns
figuratively: that which pricks
letter of the Latin alphabet (Þ, þ)
Translations to be checked
Verb
thorn (third-person singular simple present thorns , present participle thorning , simple past and past participle thorned )
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
See also
Further reading
Anagrams
Middle English
Alternative forms
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 )
A thorn ( spine on a plant with a sharp point )
Thorn or eth ( the letter þ and/or ð )
A plant having thorns, especially the hawthorn or rosebush .
( rare ) Thorns pulled from the ground for burning.
( rare ) A dish incorporating hawthorn .
Derived terms
Descendants
References
Old Saxon
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *þornu ( “ thorn, sloe ” ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
thorn m
thorn ; thorny bush
Declension
Declension of thorn (masculine a-stem)
Descendants