Acanthus

Acanthus (plural: acanthus, rarely acanthuses in English, or acanthi in Latin), in its feminine form acantha (plura: acanthae), is the Latinised form of the ancient Greek word acanthos or akanthos, referring to the Acanthus plant. It can also be used as the prefix acantho-, meaning "thorny". It may refer to:

Mythology

• Acantha, a figure in Greek mythology associated with the 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 (Egypt), an ancient Egyptian city
• Akanthos (Greece), an ancient Greek city
• Acantha, County Offaly, a townland in the civil parish of Durrow, barony of Ballycowan, Ireland

Other uses

• Acanthus (ornament), a form in architecture and in leather carving, from the plant
• Acanthus, in entomology a thorn-like projection, typically a single-celled cuticular growth without tormogen (socket) or sensory cells
• Acanthus path, a fictional tradition of enchanters, magicians and witches in the game Mage: The Awakening

See also

• List of commonly used taxonomic affixes