Confusion over Thunderbolt and Mini DisplayPort
Recently, I acquired a new HDTV and I want to be able to display the screen of my Macbook Pro (Late 2011) on the TV. My Macbook Pro has a Thunderbolt port, not a Mini displayport. I bought a cord online that said "Thunderbolt Mini Displyport to HDMI". I received the cord in the mail, but the cord was a Mini Displayport cord, not a thunderbolt cord. The gist of it is that the cord that I got did not fit into the port on my Macbook Pro. I did a bunch or research, but I'm still very confused. If anyone could help that would be great.
Thanks
MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)