thistle

See also: Thistle

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θɪsl̩/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪsəl

Noun

thistle (plural thistles)

1. 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 [...].

2. This plant seen as the national emblem of Scotland.
3. (heraldry) This plant used as a charge.
4. 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.’

Derived terms

• blessed thistle
• bull thistle
• Canada thistle
• carline thistle
• corn thistle
• cotton thistle (Onopordum acanthium)
• globe thistle
• marsh thistle
• milk thistle
• Russian thistle
• Scotch thistle (Onopordum acanthium)
• sow thistle
• spear thistle
• starthistle
• thistle butterfly
• thistledown

 

Translations

plant

• Arabic:

  Moroccan Arabic: شوك‎ m (šūk)

• Armenian: տատասկափուշ (hy) (tataskapʿuš), ուղտափուշ (hy) (ułtapʿuš), տատասկ (hy) (tatask)
• Belarusian: чартапало́х m (čartapalóx)
• Bulgarian: магарешки бодил (magareški bodil)
• Catalan: card (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 薊 (zh), 蓟 (zh) (jì)

• Cornish: askallen f
• Czech: bodlák (cs) m
• Danish: tidsel (da) c
• Dutch: distel (nl) m
• Esperanto: kardo
• Estonian: takjas (et)
• Finnish: ohdake (fi), takiainen (fi)
• French: chardon (fr) m
• Galician: cardo (gl) m
• German: Distel (de) f
• Gothic: 𐍅𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌳𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍉𐌼 f (wigadeinōm) (dative plural; lemma uncertain)
• Greek: γαϊδουράγκαθο (el) n (gaïdourágkatho)

  Ancient: βαρακίνη f (barakínē)

• Hebrew: קוֹץ‎ (he) m (qotz)
• Hungarian: bogáncs (hu)
• Ido: kardono (io)
• Irish: feochadán m, cluarán m
• Italian: cardo (it) m
• Japanese: 薊 (ja) (あざみ, azami), アザミ (azami)
• Korean: 엉겅퀴 (eonggeongkwi)
• Latgalian: usne

• Latin: carduus m
• Latvian: usne f
• Lithuanian: usnis
• Luxembourgish: Dëschtel f
• Manx: onnane f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tistel m

  Nynorsk: tistel m

• Pennsylvania German: Dischdel f
• Persian: کنگر‎ (fa) (kangar)
• Plautdietsch: Distel m
• Polish: oset (pl) m
• Portuguese: cardo (pt) m
• Romanian: scaiete (ro) m, ciulin (ro) m
• Russian: чертополо́х (ru) m (čertopolóx)
• Scots: thrissel
• Scottish Gaelic: cluaran m, fòghnan m
• Slovak: bodliak m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: wóset m, badak m

• Spanish: cardo (es) m
• Swedish: tistel (sv)
• Tagalog: pamingkit
• Turkish: devedikeni (tr)
• Ukrainian: осо́т m (osót), чортополо́х m (čortopolóx)
• Vilamovian: döstuł f
• Walloon: tcherdon (wa) m
• Welsh: ysgallen f

References

• thistle in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• thistle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Hittles, Lettish, listeth, lithest, shittle