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whitethornn. Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: white adj., thorn n. Etymology: < white adj. + thorn n. In sense 1a after classical Latin spīna alba; compare Middle High German wīzdorn (German Weißdorn ). In sense 2 after South African Dutch wittedoorn (1827 or earlier; Afrikaans wittedoorn).In β. forms with elision of medial -t-. 1. the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > thorny berry-bush > [noun] > hawthorn and allies a1300 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker (1884) I. 559/25 (MED) Bedagrage, i. spina alba, i. witþorn. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. clxv. 1058 Þese trees..haueþ prikkes as a whitethorne. c1440 9 (MED) Stampe þe leues of white thornes & do þe jeuse þer-of in thyn eghe. ?1523 J. Fitzherbert f. xxxviiiv Gette thy quicsettes in the wode countre, and let them be of whyte thorne and crabtre. 1638 J. Milton Lycidas in Obsequies 21 in When first the white-thorn blowes. 1733 W. Ellis 150 To be more sure of a strong Fence, White-thorn may be made every second Plant. 1787 6 Sept. The quantity of holley and white-thorn..is one cause why there is not a proper succession of oaks. 1870 W. Morris 168 While round about the white-thorn shed Sweet fragrance. 1900 27 Apr. 7/7 In the hedgerows the blackthorn is in full blossom, and the whitethorn is well out in leaf in forward districts. 1970 E. J. Marsh I. vii. 234 The hooks were made from twigs of black or white thorn. 2005 J. McGahern 1 The fields between the lakes are small, separated by thick hedges of whitethorn. the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > thorny berry-bush > [noun] > hawthorn and allies 1788 3 178/1 For the best method, deduced from experience, of raising the American white-thorn from the seed for hedges..a gold medal. 1835 62 3432 In our Botanic Garden, this Whitethorn forms a large shrub, I might also say a tree, from its being eighteen to twenty feet high. 1845 Feb. 60 Crataegus coccinea, White thorn. Most abundant species. 1892 11 May 218/1 Cratægus mollis is the name the White Thorn must bear if it is considered worthy of specific distinction. 1903 9 212 This valley, near Mr. Heath's house, is about a mile wide and is well wooded with scrub oaks..white thorn (Cratægus coccinea), wolf-berry [etc.]. 1974 28 330/1 The early colonists called this native Hawthorn the Pilgrims' Whitethorn, as it reminded them of the English Hawthorn. the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > acacia trees > [noun] 1837 T. G. Bradford (rev. ed.) III. ii. vii. 57 The Acacia capensis..(Doornboom), or Thorn tree, Wittedoorn (Whitethorn), and Karrodoorn (Karrothorn) has straight white thorns.] 1860 30 234 Descending on the farther side of the Bushman's River, upon a plain sprinkled with the whitethorn acacia of the Boers, you pass the Mord Spruit. 1908 (Royal Bot. Gardens, Kew) 156 Acacia Catechu,... Our largest species of Acacia..called ‘White Thorn’. 1955 54 46 The dominant plant is whitethorn (Acacia constricta). 1991 17 July 34/2 Creosote, tarbush and whitethorn acacia dominate the broad basins between grim mountains of..limestone. 2007 B. Shorrocks ii. 50 The white thorn (Acacia seyal) is a small, slender tree..which can develop a characteristic umbrella-shaped canopy. Compounds1562 W. Turner f. 73 Matthiolus holdeth yt our haw tre or whyte thorne tre is Oxyacantha. 1640 J. Gower tr. Ovid vi. 127 A white-thorn-wand he her doth give. 1731 J. Tull 68 White-Thorns will not prosper set in the Gaps of a White-Thorn Hedge. 1768 A. Young 79 A white-thorn fence is impenetrable. 1814 Chron. 74/2 in He struck her so violently with a white-thorn stick..that she fell to the ground. 1827 J. Clare 45 Or short note of the changing thrush Above him in the white-thorn bush. 1885 W. Pater I. xiv. 248 The torch of white-thorn-wood. 1956 S. H. Bell v. 70 They were not as old as the whitethorn bush their grandfather feared as a child. 2007 J. McCourt ii. 44 When out walking he would ever as instructed give decent berth to the whitethorn trees. C2. 1840 J. Loudon & M. Loudon tr. V. Köllar Introd. 21 In the spring of 1832, after incessant rain, I saw the caterpillars of the white-thorn butterfly [Ger. die Raupen des Baumweisslings] (Papilio cratægi). 1842 J. C. Loudon 105 Kollar saw the caterpillars of the white-thorn butterfly..dying by thousands. 1962 41 71/2 The whitethorn butterfly (Aporia crataegi, L.). This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online June 2022). <  n.a1300 |
