thorn

[ thawrn ]

/ θɔrn /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR thorn ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a sharp excrescence on a plant, especially a sharp-pointed aborted branch; spine; prickle.

any of various thorny shrubs or trees, especially the hawthorns belonging to the genus Crataegus, of the rose family.

the wood of any of these trees.

a runic character (þ), borrowed into the Latin alphabet and representing the initial th sounds in thin and they in Old English, or thin in modern Icelandic.

something that wounds, annoys, or causes discomfort.

verb (used with object)

to prick with a thorn; vex.

Nearby words

Idioms

thorn in one's side/flesh, a source of continual irritation or suffering: That child is a thorn in the teacher's side.

Origin of thorn

before 900; Middle English (noun), Old English; cognate with Dutch doorn, German Dorn, Old Norse thorn, Gothic thaurnus

Related formsthorn·less, adjectivethorn·like, adjectiveun·thorn, verb (used with object)

Thorn

[ tawrn ]

/ tɔrn /

noun

German name of Toruń.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for thorn

Thorn also posted a video on his personal YouTube page wherein he desk-dances to Taylor Swift.
Jimmy Kimmel Pranks Kids (Again), Taylor Swift’s 1989 Aerobics, and More Viral Videos|The Daily Beast Video|November 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That freedom has been a thorn in the side of many cardinals who feel the sisters should be more conservative.
American Nuns Hope For Sister-Friendly New Pope|Barbie Latza Nadeau|February 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST
A tabletop bronze of a boy pulling a thorn from his foot, made around 1500 by the Renaissance sculptor known as Antico.
A Roman Boy-Toy Gets a Dye Job|Blake Gopnik|January 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST
For more than 40 years now, Norwegian director Vibeke Løkkeberg has relished being a thorn in the side of authorities.
In ‘Tears of Gaza,’ Vibeke Løkkeberg Focuses on Children of War|Lorenza Muñoz|September 21, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Senator Blanche Lincoln was a thorn in the Democrats' side during the health-care debate.
Will Blanche Lincoln Oppose the Dems Again?|Benjamin Sarlin|April 12, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Then we went, but as I passed through the thorn trees I turned and looked at Sihamba, and lo!
Swallow|H. Rider Haggard
She starts low down among the plants, thorn and thistle, gorse and cactus.
"Wee Tim'rous Beasties"|Douglas English
One of them described a circle round the thorn, within which the plough should not go.
The Fairy Mythology|Thomas Keightley
The King tossed his head proudly and observed: “Who would not play the thorn with two such buds to blush on either side?”
Mistress Nell|George C. Hazelton, Jr.
I grieve over it off and on, a kind of thorn in de flesh, my husband used to say.
Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves|Work Projects Administration

British Dictionary definitions for thorn

thorn

/ (θɔːn) /

noun

a sharp pointed woody extension of a stem or leafCompare prickle (def. 1)

any of various trees or shrubs having thorns, esp the hawthorn
the wood of any of these plants

short for thorn moth

a Germanic character of runic origin Þ used in Old and Modern Icelandic to represent the voiceless dental fricative sound of th, as in thin, bath. Its use in phonetics for the same purpose is now obsoleteSee theta

this same character as used in Old and Middle English as an alternative to edh, but indistinguishable from it in function or soundCompare edh

zoology any of various sharp spiny parts

a source of irritation (esp in the phrases a thorn in one's side or flesh)

Derived Formsthornless, adjective

Word Origin for thorn

Old English; related to Old High German dorn, Old Norse thorn

Thorn

/ (toːrn) /

noun

the German name for Toruń

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

Word Origin and History for thorn

thorn

Old English þorn "sharp point on a stem or branch," earlier "thorny tree or plant," from Proto-Germanic *thurnuz (cf. Old Saxon thorn, Dutch doorn, Old High German dorn, German Dorn, Old Norse þorn, Gothic þaurnus), from PIE *trnus (cf. Old Church Slavonic trunu "thorn," Sanskrit trnam "blade of grass," Greek ternax "stalk of the cactus," Irish trainin "blade of grass"), from *(s)ter-n- "thorny plant," from root *ster- "stiff."

Figurative sense of "anything which causes pain" is recorded from early 13c. (thorn in the flesh is from II Cor. xii:7). Also an Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic runic letter (þ), named for the word of which it was the initial.

Science definitions for thorn