thornlessadj.
/ˈθɔːnlɪs/ Having no thorns; free from thorns; without a thorn.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > thorn or prickle > [adjective] > thornless
prickless1601
unthorny1646
unarmed1682
inerm1760
thornless1776
unthorned1806
inermous1828
1776 W. Withering Brit. Plants (1796) II. 461 [Mespilus germanica] Thornless: leaves spear-shaped, cottony underneath: flowers solitary, sitting.
1803 Visct. Strangford tr. L. V. de Camoens Poems 66 I..Have never yet been one of those Whose love has prov'd a thornless rose!
1825 H. Alford Let. in Life, Jrnls. & Lett. H. Alford (1873) 17 Perennial and thornless flowers bloom only in the Paradise above.
1900 Cycl. Amer. Hort.: A–D 164/2 The Thornless or Mountain Blackberry..is not in cultivation.
1980 M. Spiller Growing Fruit vii. 159 The thornless form of the parsley-leaved blackberry..can be planted a little closer than other varieties.
Derivatives
ˈthornlessness n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > thorn or prickle > [noun] > thorniness or thornlessness
prickliness1725
thornlessness1857
thorniness1869
1857 D. Livingstone Missionary Trav. S. Afr. xviii. 345 The thornlessness of the vegetation is especially noticeable.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1776