buckthorn.
Any of several, often thorny shrubs or small trees, especially
Meaning & usage
Any of several, often thorny shrubs or small trees, especially the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae), especially genus Rhamnus,
Any of several, often thorny shrubs or small trees, especially the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae), especially genus Rhamnus, especially common buckthorn or purging buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica).
Any of several, often thorny shrubs or small trees, especially the buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae), also alder buckthorn (Frangula), especially Frangula alnus).
Any of several, often thorny shrubs or small trees, especially sea buckthorn (Hippophae, in family Elaeagnaceae).
Where this word comes from
Calque of Latin cervī spīna (“deer's thorny shrub”), cervi (“deer's”) being the genitive singular of cervus (“deer”), from Proto-Italic *kerwos, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₂wós, from *ḱerh₂- (“horn”) + *-wós, spīna (“thorny shrub”) from Proto-Italic *speinā, from Proto-Indo-European *spey- (“sharp point”). By surface analysis, buck + thorn.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.