# thorn

> English word · Noun · IPA /θɔːn/ · frequency rank #15,531

## Definitions
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.
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).

## 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”).

## Easily confused with
- **ton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thorn-vs-ton)
- **tor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thorn-vs-tor)
- **turn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thorn-vs-turn)
- **town** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thorn-vs-town)
- **thou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thorn-vs-thou)
- **torn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thorn-vs-torn)
- **Tory** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thorn-vs-tory)
- **thru** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thorn-vs-thru)
- **tore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thorn-vs-tore)
- **toro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thorn-vs-toro)
- **tori** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thorn-vs-tori)
- **tort** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thorn-vs-tort)
- **toon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thorn-vs-toon)
- **thot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thorn-vs-thot)
- **tora** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thorn-vs-tora)
- **Thun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thorn-vs-thun)
- **those** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thorn-vs-those)
- **thrown** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thorn-vs-thrown)
- **thorpe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thorn-vs-thorpe)
- **thorny** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thorn-vs-thorny)

## Common misspellings (8)
`htorn`, `thhorn`, `thonr`, `thornn`, `thorrn`, `thron`, `tohrn`, `tthorn`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/thorn