thorn

Meaning

Noun

1. A modified branch that is hard and sharp like a spike.
2. Any thorn-like structure on plants, such as the spine and the prickle.
3. Any shrub or small tree that bears thorns, especially a hawthorn.
4. (figuratively) That which pricks or annoys; anything troublesome.
5. 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).

Verb

To pierce with, or as if with, a thorn (sharp pointed object).

Synonyms

prickle

spine

spike

splinter

barb

needle

prick

sticker

pin

thistle

stab

fishbone

sting

pierce

brier

spikelet

pricker

thornbush

prod

assassinate

quill

briar

acantha

hook

🪝

hurt

irritant

shot

sliver

spear

spit

spur

tab

thrust

tine

tip

wattle

thorny plant

biting words

acanthae

aculeus

prickly plant

acacia

spina spinae

arrow

bristle

burr

cleat

fin

fishbones

fix

Translations

épine

espina

Dorn

spina

doorn

αγκάθι

espina

Stachel

aculeo

espinho

piquant

spina

stekel

Pronounced as (IPA)

/θɔːn/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: thorn

Inherited from Old English: þorn

Cognate with Western Frisian: toarn

Cognate with Low German: Doorn

Cognate with Dutch: doorn

Cognate with German: Dorn

Cognate with Danish: -

Cognate with Norwegian: -

Cognate with Swedish: torn

Cognate with Gothic: 𐌸𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽𐌿𐍃

Cognate with Church Slavic: трънъ

Cognate with Russian: тёрн

Cognate with Polish: cierń

Cognate with Kati: taňi

Cognate with Sanskrit: तृण

In summary

From Middle English thorn, þorn, from Old English þorn, from Proto-West Germanic *þorn, from Proto-Germanic *þurnaz, 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 taňi, tai (“thorn”), Sanskrit तृण (tṛ́ṇa, “grass”).