thistle
See also: Thistle
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English thistel, from Old English þistel, from Proto-Germanic *þistilaz. *þīh- from *teyg-, which is a variant of Proto-Indo-European *steyg- (“to prick”); from this same Proto-Indo-European root comes English stick. Cognates include Scots thrissel, German Distel, Dutch distel and Icelandic þistill.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
thistle (plural thistles)
- Any of several perennial composite plants, especially of genera Cirsium, Carduus, Cynara, or Onopordum, having prickly leaves and showy flower heads with prickly bracts.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981:, Genesis 3:18:
- Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field [...].
- This plant seen as the national emblem of Scotland.
- (heraldry) This plant used as a charge.
- The Order of the Thistle, or membership thereof.
- 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia, Faber & Faber 1992 (Avignon Quintet), p. 324:
- Here's a passage which will please you: ‘It is said that when rich he twice refused the thistle.’
- 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia, Faber & Faber 1992 (Avignon Quintet), p. 324:
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
plant
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ReferencesEdit
- thistle in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- thistle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.