ACANTHUS • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Acanthus

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

Listen

noun

Acanthus n. (pl. E. acanthuses, L. acanthi)

(Bot.) A genus of herbaceous prickly plants, found in the south of Europe, Asia Minor, and India; bear's-breech.

(Arch.) An ornament resembling the foliage or leaves of the acanthus (Acanthus spinosus); used in the capitals of the Corinthian and Composite orders.

See images of 'Acanthus'

Etymology of 'Acanthus'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Acanthus" Quotes from Famous Books

... sight. As it is the ornaments rather than the proportions of architecture which at the first glance distinguish the different orders from each other; the Doric is known by its triglyphs, the Ionic by its volutes, and the Corinthian by its acanthus. ...

— Seven Discourses on Art • Joshua Reynolds

... in through the thick bushes, and saw that they had not been moved for many a year. And searching among their roots he found a great flat stone, all overgrown with ivy, and acanthus, and moss. He tried to lift it, but he could not. And he tried till the sweat ran down his brow from heat, and the tears from his eyes for shame; but all was of no avail. And at last he came back to his mother, and said, 'I have found the stone, but I cannot lift it; nor do I think that ...

— The Heroes • Charles Kingsley

... decorated with clover leaves. The monastery is built over this hall, at an altitude of two hundred feet above the sea level. It is composed of a quadrangular gallery formed by a triple line of small granite, tufa, or stucco columns. Acanthus, thistles, ivy, and oak-leaves wind around their caps; between each mitred ogive is a cut-out rose; this gallery is the place where the prisoners take ...

— Over Strand and Field • Gustave Flaubert

Words linked to "Acanthus" : herb, genus Acanthus, herbaceous plant, Acanthus mollis, sea holly, bear's breech, bear's breeches, acanthus family