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thistle

noun
/θɪsl̩/

Etymology

From Middle English thistel, from Old English þistel, from Proto-West Germanic *þistil, from Proto-Germanic *þistilaz. *þīh- from *teyg-, which is a variant of Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to prick”); from this same Proto-Indo-European root comes English stick. Cognates include Scots thrissel, German Distel, Dutch distel, and Old Norse and Icelandic þistill.

  1. derived from *(s)teyg-✻ — “to prick”
  2. inherited from *þistilaz✻
  3. inherited from *þistil✻
  4. inherited from þistel
  5. inherited from thistel

Definitions

  1. Any of several perennial composite plants, especially of genera Cirsium, Carduus, Cynara,…

    Any of several perennial composite plants, especially of genera Cirsium, Carduus, Cynara, or Onopordum, having prickly leaves and showy flower heads with prickly bracts.

    • Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field [...].
    • I wasn’t born of a whistle, or milked from a thistle at twilight / No; I was all horns and thorns, sprung out fully formed, knock-kneed and upright

  2. This plant seen as the national emblem of Scotland.

  3. An image of this plant used as a charge.

  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. The Order of the Thistle, or membership thereof.

      • Here's a passage which will please you: ‘It is said that when rich he twice refused the thistle.’

    2. A surname.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for thistle. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA