different between thistle vs thorn

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

From Middle English thorn, þorn, from Old English þorn, þyrn (“thorn”), from Proto-Germanic *þurnuz, from Proto-Indo-European *tr?nós, from *(s)ter- (“stiff”). Near cognates include West Frisian toarn, Low German Doorn, Dutch doorn, German Dorn, Danish and Norwegian torn, Swedish torn, törne, Gothic ???????????????????????????? (þaurnus). Further cognates include Old Church Slavonic ????? (tr?n?, “thorn”), Russian ???? (tjorn), Polish cier?, Sanskrit ??? (t???a, “grass”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /???n/
• (US) IPA^(key): /???n/
• Rhymes: -??(?)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.

3. (figuratively) That which pricks or annoys; anything troublesome.

4. 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).

Derived terms

Translations

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

Translations

See also

• eth, edh, eð, ð
• wynn, wen, ?
• ?

Further reading

• thorn on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Thorns, spines, and prickles on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Thorn (letter) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• North, Rt Hon, Rt. Hon., north

Middle English

Alternative forms

• þorn, thorne, thron, þron, þorne

Etymology

Inherited from Old English þorn, from Proto-Germanic *þurnuz, from Proto-Indo-European *tr?nós.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??rn/, /?r?n/

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-West Germanic *þornu (“thorn, sloe”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??rn/

Noun

thorn m

1. thorn; thorny bush

Declension

Descendants

• Middle Low German: d?rn
  • German Low German: Däörn, Doorn, Dorn, Durn