crown of thorns

2 definitions found

crown of thorns - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  crown of thorns
      n 1: any affliction that causes great suffering; "that is his
           cross to bear"; "he bears his afflictions like a crown of
           thorns" [syn: cross, crown of thorns]
      2: somewhat climbing bushy spurge of Madagascar having long
         woody spiny stems with few leaves and flowers with scarlet
         bracts [syn: crown of thorns, Christ thorn, Christ   plant
         , Euphorbia milii]
      3: a mock crown made of thorn branches that Roman soldiers
         placed on Jesus before the Crucifixion

crown of thorns - Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary :

  Crown of thorns
  our Lord was crowned with a, in mockery by the Romans (Matt.
  27:29). The object of Pilate's guard in doing this was probably
  to insult, and not specially to inflict pain. There is nothing
  to show that the shrub thus used was, as has been supposed, the
  spina Christi, which could have been easily woven into a wreath.
  It was probably the thorny nabk, which grew abundantly round
  about Jerusalem, and whose flexible, pliant, and round branches
  could easily be platted into the form of a crown. (See THORN
  �T0003642, 3.)