Etymology

hawthorn

Haw·thorn
H4A1W4T1H4O1R1N1

Today it means: Any of various shrubs and small trees of the genus Crataegus having small, apple-like fruits and thorny branches. Full definition →

Middle English hawthorn ← Old English hagaþorn ← Proto-West Germanic *haguþorn
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hawthorn · noun1

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*haguþorn
  2. Old English · inherited fromhagaþorn
  3. Middle English · inherited fromhawthorn
  4. English todayhawthorn

From Middle English hawthorn, from Old English hagaþorn, hæguþorn, from Proto-West Germanic *haguþorn; equivalent to haw (“hedge, enclosure”) + thorn.

Hawthorn · proper noun2

Compound of haw (“hedge”) + thorn.

Words from the same roots

Old Englishhagaþorn all →

Hatherton

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.