- Thorn
- Thorn Thorn, n. [AS. [thorn]orn; akin to OS. & OFries. thorn,
D. doorn, G. dorn, Dan. torn, Sw. t["o]rne, Icel. [thorn]orn,
Goth. [thorn]a['u]rnus; cf. Pol. tarn, Russ. tern' the
blackthorn, ternie thorns, Skr. t[.r][.n]a grass, blade of
grass. [root]53.]
1. A hard and sharp-pointed projection from a woody stem;
usually, a branch so transformed; a spine.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Bot.) Any shrub or small tree which bears thorns; especially, any species of the genus Crat[ae]gus, as the hawthorn, whitethorn, cockspur thorn. [1913 Webster]
3. Fig.: That which pricks or annoys as a thorn; anything troublesome; trouble; care. [1913 Webster]
There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me. --2 Cor. xii. 7. [1913 Webster]
The guilt of empire, all its thorns and cares, Be only mine. --Southern. [1913 Webster]
4. The name of the Anglo-Saxon letter ?, capital form ?. It was used to represent both of the sounds of English th, as in thin, then. So called because it was the initial letter of thorn, a spine. [1913 Webster]
{Thorn apple} (Bot.), Jamestown weed.
{Thorn broom} (Bot.), a shrub that produces thorns.
{Thorn hedge}, a hedge of thorn-bearing trees or bushes.
{Thorn devil}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Moloch}, 2.
{Thorn hopper} (Zo["o]l.), a tree hopper ({Thelia crat[ae]gi}) which lives on the thorn bush, apple tree, and allied trees. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
