blackthorn
/ˈblækˌθɔɹn/noun
blackthorn is spelled B-L-A-C-K-T-H-O-R-N: 10 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 77,666th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, blackthorn means “A large shrub or small tree, Prunus spinosa, that is native to Europe, western Asia, and north Africa. It has a dark bark and bears thorns” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of blackthorn is blackthorns.
How many letters and syllables are in blackthorn?
| Letters | 10: B-L-A-C-K-T-H-O-R-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 7 million words; the 77,666th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is blackthorn?
Blackthorn appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 77,666th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce blackthorn?
- UK /ˈblækˌθɔːn/
- US /ˈblækˌθɔɹn/
Blackthorn has 2 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-blackthorn.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of blackthorn
- blackthorns plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does blackthorn mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A large shrub or small tree, Prunus spinosa, that is native to Europe, western Asia, and north Africa. It has a dark bark and bears thorns.
- 2
A stick or staff taken from this tree.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Blackthorn in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Prunus spinosa:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | prunellier |
| German | Schlehdorn, Schlehe |
| Portuguese | abrunheiro-bravo |
| Spanish | endrino, arañón, arañonera, arañuela, ciruelo silvestre, ciruelo salvaje |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does blackthorn come from?
Compound of black + thorn.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).