noorsdoring, noun

/ˈnʊərsdʊərəŋ/
Forms:
nooidoorn, noors-doornShow more Also nooidoorn, noors-doorn, noorse-doorn, norsdoorn, norsdoring.
Origin:
Afrikaans, South African Dutch, DutchShow more Afrikaans, earlier South African Dutch noorsedoorn, from combining form of Dutch norsch gruff, disagreeable + doorn thorn.
1. Any of several species of succulent Euphorbia with recurved spines; noors. Also attributive.
1839 in J.C. Chase Natal, Re-Print of all Authentic Notices (1843) II. 98Trees as high as fir trees, and much resembling them, called the Noorsdoorn, are seen raising their lofty tops over the more humble trees. [Source Note: Euphorbium.]
1872 E.J. Dunn in A.M.L. Robinson Sel. Articles from Cape Monthly Mag. (1978) 43You would be advised, when riding or walking in their neighbourhood to give ‘nooidorn’ a wide berth...These short but terrible recurved hooks have a grasp like steel.
[1883 M.A. Carey-Hobson Farm in Karoo 216The principal growth was a most uninteresting-looking euphorbia, called by the Dutch noorse doorn, or ‘spiteful thorn;’..for thorns were ubiquitous — there was no escape for thin trousers or the flesh itself where the ‘noorse doorn’ abounded.]
1889 H.A. Bryden Kloof & Karroo 16The milk of the noorse-doorn is not poisonous, and forms an excellent food for cattle, sheep, and goats.
1898 Midland News & Karroo Farmer 10 Nov. (Pettman)The drought continues in the Ruggens with unabated severity, and the noorse-doorn and finger-pol plants are now in daily requisition to keep stock alive.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 342Noorse-doorn, (D. norsch, gruff, disagreeable; doorn, a thorn.) Euphorbia enopla, and one or two other species are known by this name, which refers to the noli me tangere character of their spines.
1931 F.C. Slater Secret Veld 79Prickly-pear..grew thickly..while, here and there, flourished unsightly clumps of flabby and leprous norsdoorn.
1979 Sunday Times 9 Sept. (Mag. Sect.) 5He and his brother once went to look at flowers Calvinia way because in Graaff-Reinet all you see are noorsdorings.
1993 Milton & Dean in Afr. Wildlife Vol.47 No.1, 27The tortoises braved some fearsome spines to feed on the juicy flesh of such plants as noorsdoring (Euphorbia stellaspina).
2. combination
noorsdoring veld/- felt//- fɛlt/, also in contracted form noorsveld [Afrikaans, veld countryside, natural vegetation], natural vegetation in which the primary plant growth is Euphorbia; also attributive.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 343Noorse or Noorse-doorn Veld, Veld composed almost entirely of Noorse-doorn; in some parts of the country, lying between Jansenville and Pearston, the Noorse-doorn is so thick as to be almost impenetrable.
1979 Sunday Times 9 Sept. (Mag. Sect.) 5I prefer..the flavour of the noorsveld honey which I also found in the butcher’s shop.
Any of several species of succulent Euphorbia with recurved spines; noors. Also attributive.
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noors, nounn.normalize, verb transitivev.
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