Acanthus Explained

Acanthus (: acanthus, rarely acanthuses in English, or acanthi in Latin), its feminine form acantha (plural: acanthae), the Latinised form of the ancient Greek word acanthos or akanthos, or the prefix acantho-, may refer to:

Biology

• Acanthus (plant), a genus containing plants used for ornament and in traditional medicine
  • Acanthus (ornament), ornamental forms in architecture using the leaf shape
• Acanthus, an entomological term for a thorn-like projection on an insect, typically a single-celled cuticular growth without tormogen (socket) or sensory cells

Mythology

• Acantha, a supposed figure in Greek mythology associated with the Acanthus plant
• Acanthus, son of Autonous who received his name after the plant, which was common in his infertile homeland

People

• Acanthus of Sparta, an ancient athlete
• Acanthus, the pen-name of the cartoonist Frank Hoar

Places

• Acanthus, Ontario, a modern Canadian town
• Acanthus (Caria), a town of ancient Caria, near Bybassus
• Acanthus (Egypt), an ancient Egyptian city
• Akanthos (Greece), an ancient Greek city in Greek Macedonia
• Acantha, County Offaly, a townland in the civil parish of Durrow, barony of Ballycowan, Ireland

Other uses

• Acanthus path, a fictional tradition of enchanters, magicians and witches in the game

See also

• List of commonly used taxonomic affixes