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, þyrn (“thorn”), from Proto-Germanic *þurnuz, from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥nós, from *(s)ter- (“stiff”). Near cognates include West Frisian toarn, Low German Doorn, Dutch doorn, German Dorn, (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Danish and (deprecated template usage) [etyl] 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

• IPA^(key): /θɔːn/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

• IPA^(key): /θɔɹn/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)n

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.
   • Bible, 2 Corinthians xii. 7

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

   • (Can we date this quote by South and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

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

4. A letter of Latin script (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
• thorn broom ( spp.)
• thornbush
• thorn devil ()
• thorn hopper ()

• thorn in one's side
• Thornton
• thornen
• thorny

Translations

sharp protective spine of a plant

• Abaza: мгъы (mɣə)
• Afrikaans: doring
• Arabic: أَسَلَة f (ʔasala)

  Egyptian Arabic: شوك m (šōk) (collective), شوكة f (šōka) (singulative)

• Armenian: փուշ (hy) (pʻuš)
• Aromanian: schin
• Assamese: কাঁইট (kãit), কঁটা (kõta)
• Azerbaijani: tikan (az)
• Basque: arantza, elorri
• Bulgarian: трън (bg) m (trǎn), бодил (bg) m (bodil)
• Burmese: ဆူး (my) (hcu:)
• Catalan: aculi (ca), espina (ca), eculi, agulló (ca), fibló
• Central Melanau: duwei
• Chamicuro: kajpayi
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 刺 (zh) (cì), 荊棘／荆棘 (zh) (jīngjí), 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
• 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: שית (he) m (shayit)
• 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)
• Korean: 가시 (ko) (gasi)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: دِڕوو (dirrû)

  Laki: دِڕک (dirrk)

  Northern Kurdish: strî (ku), dirrî (ku)

  Southern Kurdish: دِڕِگ (dirrig)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Lao: ໜາມ (nām)
• Latgalian: ierškiezs m
• Latin: spīna f
• Latvian: ērkšķis m, dzelonis (lv) m
• Lithuanian: rakis
• Low German: Doorn m
• Luhya: kumwiva
• Macedonian: трн m (trn)
• Malay: duri
• Maori: ngita
• 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
• Pashto: اغزی (ps) m (aγzai)
• Persian: خار (fa) (xâr)
• 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)
• Sardinian: ispina f, spina f
• Scottish Gaelic: stob m, droigheann m, dealg f
• Serbo-Croatian: trn (sh) m
• Slovak: tŕň m
• Spanish: espina (es) f
• Sundanese: rucuk
• Swahili: mwiba (sw) class 3/4
• Swedish: törne (sv) c
• 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
• Yiddish: דאָרנ m (dorn)
• ǃXóõ: gǃqhàẽ

any shrub or small tree that bears thorns

• Finnish: piikkipensas
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

figuratively: that which pricks

• Finnish: piikki (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek:

  Ancient: σκόλοψ m (skólops)

letter of the Latin alphabet (Þ, þ)

• Belarusian: торн m (torn)
• Bulgarian: торн m (torn)
• Faroese: torn n
• Finnish: thorn (fi)
• French: thorn (fr) m
• Icelandic: þorn n
• Korean: 손 (ko) (son)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Macedonian: торн m (torn)
• Norwegian: thorn m
• 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
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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
   • 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.

Translations

to pierce with, or as if with, a thorn

• Portuguese: espinhar (pt)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

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, north

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• þorn, thorne, thron, þron, þorne

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θɔrn/, /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
• thornbak
• thornen
• thornetre
• thorny

Descendants

• English: thorn
• Scots: thorn; torn (Shetland)

References

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

---

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *þurnuz (“thorn, sloe”), from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥nós, from *(s)ter-. 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): /θorn/

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