thorn
/θoɹn/noun, verb
thorn is spelled T-H-O-R-N: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, thorn means “A modified branch that is hard and sharp like a spike” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of thorn is thorns.
How many letters and syllables are in thorn?
| Letters | 5: T-H-O-R-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.0 times per million words; the 15,368th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is thorn?
Thorn appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th 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 thorn?
- UK /θɔːn/
- US /θoɹn/
- US [θo̞ɹn]
Thorn has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-thorn.ogg, En-us-thorn.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with thorn?
10 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as thorn from its last stressed vowel (/oɹn/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: north.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of thorn
- thorns plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- þorn
- thorning participle, present
- thorned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does thorn mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A modified branch that is hard and sharp like a spike.
- 2
Any thorn-like structure on plants, such as the spine and the prickle.
- 3
Any shrub or small tree that bears thorns, especially a hawthorn.
the white thorn
- 4
That which pricks or annoys; anything troublesome.
- 5
A 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).
See also Etymology of ye (definite article).
verb
- 1
To pierce with, or as if with, a thorn (sharp pointed object).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Thorn in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | épine , thorn |
| German | Dorn |
| Portuguese | espinho, acúleo , espinhar |
| Spanish | espina, puncha, pincha, aguate / ahuate / afate / guate, ajuate / uguate / huate, shute |
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 thorn come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).