Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Acanthus |
AcanthusNoun1. Any plant of the genus Acanthus having large spiny leaves and spikes or white or purplish flowers; native to Mediterranean region but widely cultivated. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "acanthus" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1663. (references) |
Etymology: Acanthus \A*can"thus\, noun; plural English Acanthuses, from Latin expression Acanthi. [Latin expression, from the Greek expression. Compare to Acantha.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Literature | Acanthus The leafy ornament used in the capitals of Corinthian and composite columns. It is said that Callimachos lost his daughter, and set a basket of flowers on her grave, with a tile to keep the wind from blowing it away. The next time he went to visit the grave an acanthus had sprung up around the basket, which so struck the fancy of the architect that he introduced the design in his buildings. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
In Greek mythology, Acanthus was the son of Autonous and Hippoamia. His father's horses tore him to shreds.
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Acanthus community on Cedar Lake, in northeastern Ontario. Acanthus is in Algonquin Park. Acanthus is in Southern Unorganized Nipissing, in Nipissing DistrictSource: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Acanthus."
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Ornament | Pattern, diaper, powdering, paneling, graining, pargeting; detail; repousse (convexity); texture; richness; tracery, molding, fillet, listel, strapwork, coquillage, flourish, fleur-de-lis, arabesque, fret, anthemion; egg and tongue, egg and dart; astragal, zigzag, acanthus, cartouche; pilaster; (projection); bead, beading; champleve ware, cloisonne ware; frost work, Moresque, Morisco, tooling. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Acanthus |
| English words defined with "acanthus": Acanth, Acanthaceous, Acanthi, Acanthine, Acanthus mollis, Acanthuses ♦ bear's breech, bear's breeches, Bear's-breech, Brankursine ♦ sea holly. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "acanthus": Corinthian Order. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "acanthus": Acanthine. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Acanthus" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. Dutch (acanthus), Latin (acacia, acanthus). |
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Unidentified Ionic capital with angled volutes framing an acanthus leaf. Perspective sketch study. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Two geese and acanthus decoration. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| "Acanthus" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Acanthus" is used about 57 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 57 | 44,859 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "acanthus": acanthus family ♦ acanthus mollis ♦ Acanthus spinosus ♦ genus Acanthus. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "acanthus": acanthus-leaf, acanthus-like. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
acanthus | 61 |
acanthus mollis | 18 |
acanthus leaf | 17 |
acanthus plant | 5 |
acanthus carving | 4 |
acanthus design leaf | 4 |
acanthus carving wood | 4 |
acanthus club | 3 |
acanthus spinosus | 3 |
acanthus brother cream johnson | 3 |
acanthus bud embossed silver vase | 3 |
acanthus flame | 3 |
acanthus carving leaf wood | 2 |
acanthus parenclub | 2 |
acanthus design | 2 |
acanthus press | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "acanthus"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | akant, beerklou (cow parsnip, hogweed). (various references) | |
Albanian | dashtër. (various references) | |
Arabic | شوك (briar, golden thistle, thistle, thorn), بادئة (prefix, pseudo, un-). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | стилизиран орнамент, синя шапка, акантус, акант. (various references) | |
Danish | akanthusfamilien (acanthus family). (various references) | |
Dutch | bereklauw (cow parsnip, hogweed), acanthus. (various references) | |
Esperanto | akanto. (various references) | |
French | acanthe. (various references) | |
German | Bärenklau. (various references) | |
Greek | άκανθοσ, άκανθος, ακανθίτησ (acanthite). (various references) | |
Hebrew | קוציץ. (various references) | |
Hungarian | akantuszfû. (various references) | |
Italian | acanto. (various references) | |
Manx | jialg [f] (broochpin, needle, pin of pulley, prick, prickle, quill, spine, thorn), jialg (broochpin, needle, pin of pulley, prick, prickle, quill, spine, thorn). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | acanthusay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | acanto. (various references) | |
Romanian | acantã (bear's foot), talpa-ursului. (various references) | |
Russian | акант (acanthi). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | tratorak, primog, bodljikara. (various references) | |
Spanish | acanto. (various references) | |
Swedish | akantus, björnkloört (bear's breech). (various references) | |
Turkish | kenger, kengel, kenger yaprağı şekli, kengel, kenger. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | Acanthaceae, acanthus. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "acanthus": acanthuses. (additional references) | |
| |
"Acanthus" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: acanthias, Acanthiza, Akanthos, amantus, ancanthus, ecanthus, osmanthus, Zakinthos. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| Words rhyming with "acanthus" (pronounced 'A*can"thus'): Ailanthus, Amianthus, Canthus, Polyanthus, strophanthus. (additional references) |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-a-c-h-n-s-t-u" | |
-1 letter: anchusa, canthus, chaunts, staunch. | |
-2 letters: ashcan, cantus, chants, chaunt, cushat, haunts, nachas, nautch, sancta, snatch, stanch, unhats. | |
-3 letters: antas, aunts, canst, cants, chant, chats, hansa, hants, haunt, hunts, natch, nucha, sauch, sauna, scant, scuta, shunt, snath, tachs, tunas, unhat. | |
-4 letters: aahs, acta, acts, anas, ansa, anta, ants, anus, aunt, cans, cant, casa, cash, cast. | |
-5 letters: aah. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-a-c-h-n-s-t-u" | |
+2 letters: acanthuses, euthanasic. | |
+4 letters: anacoluthons, hallucinates, transhumance. | |
+5 letters: authenticates, hallucinators, haruspication, ichthyofaunas, transhumances, uncharismatic. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Commercial 4. Images: Slideshow | 5. Images: Photo Album 6. Usage Frequency 7. Expressions 8. Expressions: Internet | 9. Translations: Modern 10. Translations: Ancient 11. Derivations 12. Rhymes | 13. Anagrams 14. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
