Etymology

thistle

T1H4I1S1T1L1E1

Today it means: Any of several perennial composite plants, especially of genera Cirsium, Carduus, Cynara, or Onopordum, having prickly leaves and showy flower heads with prickly bracts. Full definition →

Middle English thistel ← Old English þistel ← Proto-West Germanic *þistil
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thistle · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)teyg-“to prick”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*þistilaz
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*þistil
  4. Old English · inherited fromþistel
  5. Middle English · inherited fromthistel
  6. English todaythistle

From Middle English thistel, from Old English þistel, from Proto-West Germanic *þistil, from Proto-Germanic *þistilaz. *þīh- from *teyg-, which is a variant of Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to prick”); from this same Proto-Indo-European root comes English stick. Cognates include Scots thrissel, German Distel, Dutch distel, and Old Norse and Icelandic þistill.

Thistle · proper noun2

  1. Norwegian · derived fromTistel
  2. German · derived fromDistel
  3. English todayThistle

English surname from the noun thistle. Anglicized sources include German Distel and Norwegian Tistel (see tistel).

Words from the same roots

Old Englishþistel all →

Thistleton

Proto-Indo-European*(s)teyg- all →

styleticketsticktigerstitchetiquetteinstigatorstickle

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.