A thorn is a sting or barb on a plant.
Thorn is a word that comes from the Latin term spina and has different meanings and uses. One of them refers to the spike, tip or sting that arises in the vascular or woody tissue of a plant species.
For example: "Be careful, Molly! If you play next to those plants you can get stuck in a thorn" , "I tried to cross the forest on a bicycle but my tire got punctured by a thorn" , "When I grabbed the thistle , I got three thorns in myself" .
Thorns on plants
In this sense we can emphasize that, from the area of botany , it is indicated that this element has been appearing as a consequence of evolution and adaptation mainly in all those plants that can be found in very arid areas where there is little vegetation, there is hardly any water and temperatures are very high.
In this way, we can establish that one of the perfect examples of plant species with thorns are cacti , which can be found most easily in desert-type areas. In this case, these stingers serve to economize the water that these plants have.
The thin bony elements of fish are called spines.
A splinter and a bone element
The thorn can also be a splinter that originates from wood or another rough object. These splinters are pointed and can sting when touched.
Various species of fish , on the other hand, have numerous thin and elongated bone elements in their skeletons known as spines: "I really like going fishing, although I get bored having to clean the fish and remove their bones to be able to eat them." , "I ordered a hake fillet and they brought it full of bones."
In a similar sense, the spine is called a spine ( spina dorsalis ): "Blows to the spine are very dangerous," "The baby was born with a congenital malformation in the spine and will have to be operated on."
Thorn in the Roman Empire
To the meanings or meanings already exposed about the term at hand we could add one more that was basically used during the time of the Roman Empire .
At that time, this concept was used to refer to the wall or wall that existed in circuses , stages for various types of shows (theatrical performances, combats...), so that the horses and chariots that competed in the different competitions ran around it. that they decided to organize there.
That construction that we are mentioning was characterized, aesthetically speaking, because it did not have a very high height, it was erected in the middle of the aforementioned circus and it had extensive ornamentation. Thus, it was frequently equipped with statues, obelisks or other decorative and artistic elements with characteristics similar to those already mentioned.
a nuisance
The concept, finally, is used to refer to an annoyance caused by a person, to an intimate pain that lasts over time or to distrust .
"The girl gave me a bad feeling", «My father left me with a thorn in his side») y «By winning his first professional tournament at the age of 31, the Panamanian tennis player managed to remove a thorn» son expresiones que muestran esta acepción.