Acanthus (plural: 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 (entomology), 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 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 Macedonian 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 path, a fictional tradition of enchanters, magicians and witches in the game Mage: The Awakening
See also
- List of commonly used taxonomic affixes