buckthorn

[ buhk-thawrn ]

/ ˈbʌkˌθɔrn /

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noun

any of several, sometimes thorny trees or shrubs belonging to the genus Rhamnus, especially R. frangula, the bark of which is used in medicine.Compare buckthorn family.

a tree or shrub belonging to the genus Bumelia, of the sapodilla family, especially B. lycioides, a thorny tree having elliptic leaves and large clusters of white flowers, common in the southern and part of the central U.S.

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Origin of buckthorn

1570–80; buck¹ + thorn, rendering New Latin cervi spina

Words nearby buckthorn

buckskins, buck slip, buck's party, buckstay, bucktail, buckthorn, buckthorn family, bucktooth, buck up, buckwheat, buckwheat cake

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use buckthorn in a sentence

"She's too stylish to be good for much," being the excellent Mrs. Buckthorn's severe corollary.
And So They Were Married|Florence Morse Kingsley
Rhamnus, ram′nus, n. a genus of polypetalous shrubs and trees, including the buckthorn.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R)|Various
I gave him a dose of syrup of buckthorn, and put him on a diet of pot-liquor and vegetables till further orders.
The Moonstone|Wilkie Collins
Jacinto Quesada drew back from the entangled buckthorn and genista.
The Wolf Cub|Patrick Casey

A very fugitive pigment, prepared from the juice of buckthorn berries.
Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I|Arnold Cooley

British Dictionary definitions for buckthorn

buckthorn

/ (ˈbʌkˌθɔːn) /

noun

any of several thorny small-flowered shrubs of the genus Rhamnus, esp the Eurasian species R. cathartica, whose berries were formerly used as a purgative: family RhamnaceaeSee also sea buckthorn

Word Origin for buckthorn

C16: from buck 1 (from the spiny branches, imagined as resembling antlers) + thorn

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012