any of various trees or shrubs having thorns, esp the hawthorn
b.
the wood of any of these plants
3. short for thorn moth
4.
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 obsolete
theta
5.
this same character as used in Old and Middle English as an alternative to edh, but indistinguishable from it in function or sound
Compare edh
6. zoology
any of various sharp spiny parts
7.
a source of irritation (esp in the phrases a thorn in one's sideor flesh)
Derived forms
thornless (ˈthornless)
adjective
Word origin
Old English; related to Old High German dorn, Old Norse thorn