thorn
/θɔːn/
"thorn" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“thorn” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,531 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #15,531
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A modified branch that is hard and sharp like a spike.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | thorn |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /θɔːn/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #15,531 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “thorn” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for thorn is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /θɔːn/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,531 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for thorn, with forms such as "htorn", "thhorn", and "thonr". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ton", "tor", "turn", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English thorn, þorn, from Old English þorn, from Proto-West Germanic *þorn, from Proto-Germanic *þurnaz, from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥nós, from *(s)ter- (“stiff”). Cognates Near cognates include West Frisian toarn, Low German Doorn, Dutch doorn,… The correct English form is thorn, spelled T-H-O-R-N.
Definition
- 1A modified branch that is hard and sharp like a spike.
- 2Any thorn-like structure on plants, such as the spine and the prickle.
- 3Any shrub or small tree that bears thorns, especially a hawthorn.
- 4That which pricks or annoys; anything troublesome.
- 5A letter of Latin script (capital: Þ, small: þ), borrowed from the futhark; today used only in Icelandic to represent the voiceless dental fricative, but originally used in several early Germanic scripts, including Old English where it represented the dental fricatives that are today written th (Old English did not have phonemic voicing distinctions for fricatives).
Etymology
From Middle English thorn, þorn, from Old English þorn, from Proto-West Germanic *þorn, from Proto-Germanic *þurnaz, from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥nós, from *(s)ter- (“stiff”). Cognates Near cognates include West Frisian toarn, Low German Doorn, Dutch doorn, German Dorn, Danish and Norwegian torn, Swedish torn, törne, Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽𐌿𐍃 (þaurnus). Further cognates include Old Church Slavonic трънъ (trŭnŭ, “thorn”), Russian тёрн (tjorn), Polish cierń, Kamkata-viri taňi, tai (“thorn”), Sanskrit तृण (tṛ́ṇa, “grass”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: htorn,thhorn,thonr,thornn,thorrn,thron,tohrn,tthorn
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of thorn - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "thorn"?
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Using “thorn”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-H-O-R-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /θɔːn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ton” - see the side-by-side comparison. thorn vs ton
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.