different between thistle vs thistly

English

Etymology

From Middle English thistel, from Old English þistel, from Proto-Germanic *þistilaz. *þ?h- from *teyg-, which is a variant of Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to prick”); from this same Proto-Indo-European root comes English stick. Cognates include Scots thrissel, German Distel, Dutch distel and Icelandic þistill.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??sl?/
• Rhymes: -?s?l

Noun

thistle (plural thistles)

1. Any of several perennial composite plants, especially of genera Cirsium, Carduus, Cynara, or Onopordum, having prickly leaves and showy flower heads with prickly bracts.
   • , Genesis 3:18:

     Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field [...].

2. This plant seen as the national emblem of Scotland.
3. (heraldry) This plant used as a charge.
4. The Order of the Thistle, or membership thereof.
   • 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia, Faber & Faber 1992 (Avignon Quintet), p. 324:

     Here's a passage which will please you: ‘It is said that when rich he twice refused the thistle.’

Derived terms

Translations

References

• thistle in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• thistle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Hittles, Lettish, listeth, lithest, shittle

English

Etymology

thistle +? -y

Adjective

thistly (comparative thistlier or more thistly, superlative thistliest or most thistly)

1. Covered in thistles.

   a thistly lawn

2. Resembling a thistle.

   a thistly weed