Meanings
plural thurses · alternative thrush · alternative thrust
- dialectalA giant; a gigantic spectre; an apparition.
1 more example
And yet he was also, though many generations separated them, distant cousin to the shining eoten-maid Geard, whom the god Frea Ing had seen from afar and wedded; and to Scatha, the fair daughter of the old thurse Theasa, who had claimed a husband from among the gods as weregild for her father's slaying: often, it was said, the ugliest eotens would sire the fairest maids.
2010, Stephan Grundy, Beowulf (Fiction), iUniverse, →ISBN, page 33
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*tur-
- Proto-Germanic*þurisaz“giant, name of the Þ-rune”
- Proto-West Germanic*þuris
- Old Englishþyrs“giant, enchanter, demon, wizard”
- Middle Englishthurs
- Englishthurse
From Middle English thurs, thurse, thursse, thyrce, thirs, from Old English þyrs (“giant, enchanter, demon, wizard”), from Proto-West Germanic *þuris, from Proto-Germanic *þurisaz (“giant, name of the Þ-rune”), from Proto-Indo-European *tur-, *twer- (“to rotate, twirl, swirl, move”). Cognate with German Turse (“giant”), Danish tosse (“a fool, buffoon”), Norwegian tuss, tusse, tust (“goblin, kobold, elf, a dull fellow”), Icelandic þurs (“giant”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with thurse
Anagrams
Cite this entry
thurse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thurse
“thurse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thurse. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “thurse,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thurse.
Source: thurse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.