acantha

English

Etymology

Greek ἄκανθα (akantha, “thorn”), from ἄκρα (akra, “point”). See acute.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA: /əˈkæn.θə/, /əˈkænt.θə/

Noun

acantha (plural acanthas)

1. (botany) A prickle.
2. (zoology) A spine or prickly fin.
3. (anatomy) (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) The vertebral column; the spinous process of a vertebra.
   • 1968, Margaret Tallmadge May, Galen on the usefulness of the parts of the body^[1], translation of original by Galen, page 581:

     Moreover, all the outgrowths which I have said constitute the acantha are not of equal size in all the vertebrae, and Nature has done this with wonderful forethought.

   • {{quote-book|title=Speaking of Children's Posture Problems and the Injuries They Cause| page=55| books.google.com/books?isbn=0832622443| author=Renate Zauner| year=1980| passage=Individual vertebral bodies (right) as seen from the side and from above. The acantha is the spiney projection on the right of each illustration: in the lower illustration the boney spinal canal is shown between the acantha and the vertebral body.
   • 2005, Michael Foeldi, Roman Strossenreuther, Foundations of Manual Lymph Drainage, page 73:

     Rotary strokes or stationary circles in the direction of the flank / Alternate from the acantha of the vertebral column in the direction of the flank (medial to lateral)