Meaning

noun a shrub or shrubby tree of the genus Rhamnus; fruits are source of yellow dyes or pigments

noun any shrub or small tree of the genus Bumelia

noun an Old World plantain with long narrow ribbed leaves widely established in temperate regions

originCalque of Latin cervī spīna (“deer's thorny shrub”), cervi (“deer's”) being the genitive singular of cervus (“deer”), from Proto-Italic *kerwos, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₂wós, from *ḱerh₂- (“horn”) + *-wós, spīna (“thorny shrub”) from Proto-Italic *speinā, from Proto-Indo-European *spey- (“sharp point”). By surface analysis, buck + thorn.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0