thornen

T1H4O1R1N1E1N1

adjective

Made of or consisting of thorns.

OriginMiddle English thornen ← Old English þyrnen ← Proto-West Germanic *þurnīn →
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Meanings

adjectivethornen (comparative more thornen, superlative most thornen)

comparative more thornen · superlative most thornen

  1. dialectalobsoleteMade of or consisting of thorns.

    In that district it was a favourite remedy for scald head in a baby to hang cotton wool on a "thornen hedge" by moonlight.

    1897, Frederick Hancock, The parish of Selworthy in the county of Somerset, page 233

Origin

  1. Proto-Germanic*þurnīnaz“of thorns”
  2. Proto-West Germanic*þurnīn
  3. Old Englishþyrnen“thorny, of thorns”
  4. Middle Englishthornen
  5. Englishthornen

From Middle English thornen, from Old English þyrnen (“thorny, of thorns”), from Proto-West Germanic *þurnīn, from Proto-Germanic *þurnīnaz (“of thorns”), equivalent to thorn + -en.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

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Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Hernton
Cite this entry
APA

thornen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thornen

MLA

“thornen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thornen. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “thornen,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thornen.

Source: thornen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.