Dictionary Definition
thorn
Noun
1 something that causes irritation and annoyance;
"he's a thorn in my flesh" [syn: irritant]
3 a Germanic character of runic origin
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Alternative spellings
- þorn, þ italbrac letter of the alphabet
Etymology
þorn and þorn, from common *thurn(u)-, from *(s)ter-n- "sharp stalk or thorn", possibly derived from *ster- "stiff". Near cognates include German Dorn and Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽𐌿𐍃 (þaurnus). Further cognates include Old Church Slavonic трънъ (trŭnŭ) "thorn" and Sanskrit तृण (tṛṇa) "grass".Pronunciation
-
- Rhymes: -ɔː(r)n
Noun
- A sharp protective spine of a plant.
- A letter of the Latin
alphabet (capital: Þ, small: þ), borrowed by Old English from
the futhark to represent
a dental fricative, then not distinguished from eth, but in modern use (in Icelandic and
other languages, but no longer in English) used only for the
voiceless dental fricative found in English
thigh
- See also Etymology of ye (definite article).
sharp protective spine of a plant
- Crimean Tatar: tiken (northern dialect tegenek)
- Danish: torn
- Hebrew:
- Hungarian: tüske, tövis
letter of the lattin alphabet (Þ, þ)
- ttbc Afrikaans: doring
- ttbc Albanian: gjemb m
- ttbc Catalan: espina f
- ttbc Croatian: trn m
- ttbc Dutch: doorn m
- ttbc Esperanto: dorno
- ttbc German: Dorn m
- ttbc French: épine f
- ttbc Icelandic: þorn
- ttbc Indonesian: duri
- ttbc Italian: spina f
- ttbc Kurdish:
- ttbc Polish: cierń m
- ttbc Romanian: spin m, ghimpe m
- ttbc Serbian: trn
- ttbc Spanish: espina f
- ttbc Telugu: ముల్లు (mullu)
See also
Extensive Definition
Thorn has several meanings:
- Thorn, a sharp structure on plants
- Thorn tree
- Common hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna
- Thorn (letter) (Þ, þ), a letter in the Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic alphabets
- Thorn (rune) (), the name of the th-rune in the Anglo-Saxon rune poem
Places
- Thorn, Netherlands
- Toruń, Poland (known as Thorn in German and sometimes also in English http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_European_cities_in_different_languages:_Q-T#T )
United Kingdom
USA
Persons, Characters
- Andy Thorn
- Brad Thorn, Australian/New Zealand rugby league and rugby union footballer
- Damien Thorn
- Erin Thorn
- Gaston Thorn (1928-2007), Luxembourg politician
- George Thorn
- Colonel Herman Thorn (1783–1859), called "the millionaire of New York", brother of Jonathan Thorn
- Jan Thorn-Prikker
- Jesse Thorn, America's Radio sweetheart
- John Thorn
- John Thorn (musician)
- Jonathan Thorn
- Matt Thorn
- Nautica Thorn
- Philip Thorn
- Robyn Thorn
- Rod Thorn
- Stuart Thorn, President of the Fat People United Group
- Tracey Thorn
- Vanaro Thorn
- Victor Thorn
- Vikki Thorn, one-third of The Waifs
- Viktor Thorn
- Rose and Thorn is a character with a split personality in DC comics
- Thorn, the main character of the online fantasy story Darksoul Kingdom
- Thorn Harvestar, a main character in Jeff Smith's Bone comic series
- Thorns (band), a Norwegian black metal band
- The Thorns, an American acoustic rock band
- Thorn (Inheritance) a dragon from the Inheritance cycle
Companies
- Thorn EMI
- THORN Electrical Industries
- Thorn Cycles, British bicycle manufacturer
- Thorn guitars, guitar manufacturer
- Thorn Lighting, luminaire manufacturer, part of Zumtobel Lighting Group
Other uses
- Thorns, a 1967 science fiction novel by American writer Robert Silverberg
- Thorn (horse), racehorse that won the Kentucky Futurity in 1897
- Thorn is the name of the red dragon on the cover of the book Eldest.
- Thorn (comics) is a DC Comics character.
- Thorns, a Norwegian black metal band.
See also
thorn in German: Dorn
thorn in French: Thorn
thorn in Italian: Thorn
thorn in Dutch: Thorn
thorn in Polish: Thorn
thorn in Swedish: Thorn
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
adherent, adhesive, affliction, annoyance, bane, barb, barnacle, bitter cup, bitter
draft, bitter draught, bitter pill, bother, bramble, brier, bristle, bugbear, bulldog, burden, burden of care, burr, cactus, calamity, cankerworm of care,
care, catchweed, cement, cleavers, cross, crown of thorns, crushing
burden, curse, death, decal, decalcomania, destruction, disease, distress, encumbrance, evil, gall, gall and wormwood, glue, goose grass, grievance, gunk, harm, infliction, irritant, irritation, leech, limpet, load, molasses, mucilage, needle, nemesis, nettle, nuisance, open wound, oppression, pack of troubles,
paste, peck of troubles,
pest, pestilence, pine needle,
plague, plaster, point, prickle, quill, remora, running sore, scourge, sea of troubles,
sorrow, spicule, spiculum, spike, spikelet, spine, sticker, syrup, thistle, torment, torture, trouble, vexation, visitation, waters of
bitterness, weight,
woe, yucca