Meanings
thistle1
plural thistles
- Any of several perennial composite plants, especially of genera Cirsium, Carduus, Cynara, or Onopordum, having prickly leaves and showy flower heads with prickly bracts.
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field [...].
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 3:181 more example
I wasn’t born of a whistle, or milked from a thistle at twilight / No; I was all horns and thorns, sprung out fully formed, knock-kneed and upright
2006, Joanna Newsom, “Sawdust and Diamonds”, in Ys - governmentAn image of this plant used as a charge.
- The Order of the Thistle, or membership thereof.
Here's a passage which will please you: ‘It is said that when rich he twice refused the thistle.’
1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 324
Thistle2
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
thistle · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*(s)teyg-“to prick”
- Proto-Germanic*þistilaz
- Proto-West Germanic*þistil
- Old Englishþistel
- Middle Englishthistel
- Englishthistle
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.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek βαρακίνη
- βαρακίνη (barakínē)plant
Basque kardu
- karduplant
Bulgarian магарешки бодил
- магарешки бодил (magareški bodil)plant
Catalan card
- cardplant
Chinese Mandarin 薊 /蓟
- 薊 /蓟 (jì)plant
Czech bodlák
- bodlákplant
Danish tidsel
- tidselplant
Dutch distel
- distelplant
Esperanto kardo
- kardoplant
Estonian ohakas, takjas
- ohakasplant
- takjasplant
Finnish ohdake, takiainen
- ohdakeplant
- takiainenplant
French chardon
- chardonplant
German Distel
- Distelplant
Greek γαϊδουράγκαθο
- γαϊδουράγκαθο (gaïdourágkatho)plant
Hebrew קוֹץ
- קוֹץ (qotz)plant
Hungarian bogáncs
- bogáncsplant
Irish feochadán, cluarán
- feochadánplant
- cluaránplant
Italian cardo
- cardoplant
Japanese 薊, アザミ
- 薊 (azami)plant
- アザミ (azami)plant
Korean 엉겅퀴
- 엉겅퀴 (eonggeongkwi)plant
Latin carduus
- carduusplant
Latvian usne
- usneplant
Lithuanian usnis
- usnisplant
Norwegian Bokmål tistel
- tistelplant
Persian کنگر
- کنگر (kangar)plant
Polish oset, bodiak
- osetplant
- bodiakplant
Portuguese cardo
- cardoplant
Romanian scaiete, ciulin
- scaieteplant
- ciulinplant
Russian чертополо́х
- чертополо́х (čertopolóx)plant
Scottish Gaelic cluaran, fòghnan
- cluaranplant
- fòghnanplant
Slovak bodliak
- bodliakplant
Spanish cardo
- cardoplant
Swedish tistel
- tistelplant
Tagalog pamingkit
- pamingkitplant
Turkish devedikeni
- devedikeniplant
Ukrainian осо́т, чортополо́х
- осо́т (osót)plant
- чортополо́х (čortopolóx)plant
Welsh ysgall
- ysgallplant
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with thistle
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
thistle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thistle
“thistle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thistle. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “thistle,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thistle.
Source: thistle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.