THORN

irritant, thorn

(noun) something that causes irritation and annoyance; “he’s a thorn in my flesh”

thorn

(noun) a Germanic character of runic origin

spine, thorn, prickle, pricker, sticker, spikelet

(noun) a small sharp-pointed tip resembling a spike on a stem or leaf

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

thorn (plural thorns)

(botany) A sharp protective spine of a plant.

Any shrub or small tree that bears thorns, especially a hawthorn.

(figurative) That which pricks or annoys; anything troublesome.

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).

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

Anagrams

• North, Rt Hon, north

Proper noun

Thorn

A topographic surname for someone living near a thorn bush.

Anagrams

• North, Rt Hon, north

Source: Wiktionary

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Thorn, n. Etym: [AS. þorn; akin to OS. & OFries. thorn, D. doorn, G. dorn, Dan. torn, Sw. törne, Icel. þorn, Goth. þaúrnus; cf. Pol. tarn, Russ. tern' the blackthorn, ternie thorns, Skr. trsnsa grass, blade of grass. *53.]

1. A hard and sharp-pointed projection from a woody stem; usually, a branch so transformed; a spine.

2. (Bot.)

Definition: Any shrub or small tree which bears thorns; especially, any species of the genus Cratægus, as the hawthorn, whitethorn, cockspur thorn.

3. Fig.: That which pricks or annoys as a thorn; anything troublesome; trouble; care. There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me. 2 Cor. xii. 7. The guilt of empire, all its thorns and cares, Be only mine. Southern.

4. The name of the Anglo-Saxon letter th, as in thin, then. So called because it was the initial letter of thorn, a spine. Thorn apple (Bot.), Jamestown weed.

– Thorn broom (Bot.), a shrub that produces thorns.

– Thorn hedge, a hedge of thorn-bearing trees or bushes.

– Thorn devil. (Zoöl.) See Moloch, 2.

– Thorn hopper (Zoöl.), a tree hopper (Thelia cratægi) which lives on the thorn bush, apple tree, and allied trees.

Thorn, v. t.

Definition: To prick, as with a thorn. [Poetic] I am the only rose of all the stock That never thorn'd him. Tennyson.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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