Acanthus
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A member of the genus Acanthus of herbaceous prickly plants with toothed leaves, (family Acanthaceae, order Lamiales (formerly Scrophulariales)) found in the south of Europe, Asia Minor, and India.
"The picture before which they paused represented one of those ruined fountains so common to Italy. Francesca gazed upon it as if it had been an old friend: many a time, beside such a one, with its curved and broken marble, had she wreathed the acanthus that hung around it, the green and trailing foliage so profuse in the South, into shapes even more fanciful than those which once suggested the Corinthian capital."
- 2 any plant of the genus Acanthus having large spiny leaves and spikes or white or purplish flowers; native to Mediterranean region but widely cultivated wordnet
- 3 An ornament resembling the foliage or leaves of Acanthus spinosus, used in the capitals of the Corinthian and composite orders.
"It is difficult to imagine that Bernard of Clairvaux was gullible enough to accept dozens of historiated windows, grisaille fields of griffins, mosaic pavements, carved acanthus capitals, inhabited vine columns, and golden altarware on the strength of the justifications offered by a single window, one tympanum, and Suger's libelli."
Example
More examples"Rich presents, too, he sends for, saved of old / from Troy, a veil, whose saffron edges shone / fringed with acanthus, glorious to behold, / a broidered mantle, stiff with figures wrought in gold. / Fair Helen's ornaments, from Argos brought, / the gift of Leda, when the Trojan shore / and lawless nuptials o'er the waves she sought."
Etymology
From Latin acanthus, from Ancient Greek ἄκανθος (ákanthos), from ἀκή (akḗ, “thorn”) + ἄνθος (ánthos, “flower”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.