thorn

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• þorn, þ (letter of the alphabet)

Etymology

From Middle English þorn and Old English þorn, from Proto-Germanic *þurnuz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ter-n- (“sharp stalk or thorn”), possibly derived from *ster- (“stiff”). Near cognates include German Dorn and Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽𐌿𐍃 (þaurnus). Further cognates include Old Church Slavonic трънъ (trŭnŭ, “thorn”) and Sanskrit तृण (tṛṇa, “grass”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /θɔːn/, SAMPA: /TO:n/
• (US) IPA: /θɔɹn/, SAMPA: /TOr\n/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(r)n

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Noun

thorn (plural thorns)

1. A sharp protective spine of a plant.
2. A letter of the Latin alphabet (capital: Þ, small: þ), borrowed by Old English from the futhark to represent a dental fricative, then not distinguished from eth, but in modern use (in Icelandic and other languages, but no longer in English) used only for the voiceless dental fricative found in English thigh
   • See also Etymology of ye (definite article).

Derived terms

thorn apple thornbush thorn in one's side

Thornton thorny

Translations

sharp protective spine of a plant

Afrikaans: doring (af) Arabic: أسلة (ar) (ʾásala) f. Armenian: փուշ (hy) (p’uš) Azeri: tikan (az) Basque: arantza (eu), elorri (eu) Catalan: aculi, espina, eculi, agulló, fibló Chamicuro: kajpayi Chinese: Mandarin: 刺 (zh) (cì), 荊棘 (zh), 荆棘 (zh) (jīngjí) Cornish: dren (kw) m. Crimean Tatar: tiken (northern dialect tegenek) Croatian: trn (hr) m. Czech: trn (cs) m., osten (cs) Danish: torn (da) c. Dutch: doorn (nl) Esperanto: dorno (eo) Estonian: astel Faroese: tornur (fo) m., torn (fo) f. Finnish: piikki (fi), oka (fi) French: épine (fr) f. German: Dorn (de) Greek: αγκάθι (el) (agkáthi) Hebrew: שית (he) (shayit) m. Hindi: काँटा (hi) (kāṅṭā) m.

Hungarian: tüske (hu), tövis (hu) Indonesian: duri (id) Italian: spina (it) f., aculeo (it) Japanese: 刺 (ja), 棘 (ja), 茨 (ja), 荊 (ja), とげ (ja) (toge) Korean: 가시 (ko) (gasi) Lithuanian: rakis (lt) Luhya: kumwiva Norwegian: torn (no) m. Pashto: اغزى (ps) (aγzai) m. Persian: خار (fa) (xâr) Polish: cierń (pl) m. Portuguese: espinho (pt), acúleo (pt) Russian: шип (ru) (šip) m., колючка (ru) (koljúčka) f. Scottish Gaelic: stob (gd) m., droigheann (gd) m., dealg (gd) f. Slovak: tŕň (sk) m. Spanish: espina (es) f. Swahili: mwiba (sw) Telugu: ముల్లు (te) (mullu) Turkish: diken (tr) Urdu: کانٹا (ur) (kāṅṭā) m. West Frisian: toarn (fy) c. !Xóõ: g!qhàẽ

letter of the Latin alphabet (Þ, þ)

Faroese: torn (fo) m. Finnish: thorn (fi) French: thorn (fr) m. Korean: 손 (ko) (son) Norwegian: thorn (no) m.

Russian: торн (ru) (torn) Spanish: thorn (es) m. Swahili: ba (sw) !Xóõ: g!hàã

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Afrikaans: doring Albanian: gjemb m Catalan: espina f Serbo-Croatian: trn m Dutch: doorn m Esperanto: dorno German: Dorn m

Icelandic: þorn Indonesian: duri Kurdish: دڕک Romanian: spin m, ghimpe m Serbo-Croatian: trn 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
   • 1869, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Old Town Folks^[1]:

     […] 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.

See also

• eth, edh, eð, ð
• wynn, wen, ƿ
• ᚦ

Anagrams

• north, North
• Rt Hon