[this-uh
l] 
| 1. | any of various prickly, composite plants having showy, purple flower heads, esp. of the genera Cirsium, Carduus, or Onopordum. |
| 2. | any of various other prickly plants. |
| this·tle (thĭs'əl) n.
[Middle English, from Old English thistel; see steig- in Indo-European roots.] |
Thistle
(1.) Heb. hoah (2 Kings 14:9; Job 31:40). In Job 41:2 the Hebrew word is rendered "thorn," but in the Revised Version "hook." It is also rendered "thorn" in 2 Chr. 33:11; Prov. 26:9; Cant. 2:2; "brambles" in Isa. 34:13. It is supposed to be a variety of the wild plum-tree, but by some it is regarded as the common thistle, of which there are many varieties in Palestine. (2.) Heb. dardar, meaning "a plant growing luxuriantly" (Gen. 3:18; Hos. 10:8); Gr. tribolos, "a triple point" (Matt. 7:16; Heb. 6:8, "brier," R.V. "thistle"). This was probably the star-thistle, called by botanists Centaurea calcitropa, or "caltrops," a weed common in corn-fields. (See THORNS.)
