ἄκανθα

See also: άκανθα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

Traditionally derived from ἀκή (akḗ, “thorn”) +‎ ἄνθος (ánthos, “flower”), though Beekes considers this theory outdated and prefers to take the word as Pre-Greek. Probably not related to Sanskrit कण्टक (káṇṭaka, “thorn, thornbush; prick, needle”).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /á.kan.tʰa/ → /ˈa.kan.θa/ → /ˈa.kan.θa/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /á.kan.tʰa/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈa.kan.tʰa/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈa.kan.θa/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈa.kan.θa/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈa.kan.θa/

Noun

ᾰ̓́κᾰνθᾰ • (ắkănthă) f (genitive ᾰ̓κᾰ́νθης); first declension

1. thorny plant
   1. (Egypt) specifically Vachellia nilotica (phono-semantic matching of Coptic ϣⲟⲛϯ (šonti))
2. thorn, spine, prickle
3. (figuratively) thorny issue; something difficult or painful

Inflection

First declension of ἡ ᾰ̓́κᾰνθᾰ; τῆς ᾰ̓κᾰ́νθης (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ ᾰ̓́κᾰνθᾰ hē ắkănthă	τὼ ᾰ̓κᾰ́νθᾱ tṑ ăkắnthā	αἱ ᾰ̓́κᾰνθαι hai ắkănthai
Genitive	τῆς ᾰ̓κᾰ́νθης tês ăkắnthēs	τοῖν ᾰ̓κᾰ́νθαιν toîn ăkắnthain	τῶν ᾰ̓κᾰνθῶν tôn ăkănthôn
Dative	τῇ ᾰ̓κᾰ́νθῃ têi ăkắnthēi	τοῖν ᾰ̓κᾰ́νθαιν toîn ăkắnthain	ταῖς ᾰ̓κᾰ́νθαις taîs ăkắnthais
Accusative	τὴν ᾰ̓́κᾰνθᾰν tḕn ắkănthăn	τὼ ᾰ̓κᾰ́νθᾱ tṑ ăkắnthā	τᾱ̀ς ᾰ̓κᾰ́νθᾱς tā̀s ăkắnthās
Vocative	ᾰ̓́κᾰνθᾰ ắkănthă	ᾰ̓κᾰ́νθᾱ ăkắnthā	ᾰ̓́κᾰνθαι ắkănthai
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Derived terms

• ἀκανθέα (akanthéa)
• ἀκᾰνθῐ́ᾱς (akănthĭ́ās)
• ἀκᾰ́νθῐνος (akắnthĭnos)
• ἀκᾰ́νθῐον (akắnthĭon)
• ἀκανθίς (akanthís)
• ἀκᾰνθοφᾰ́γος (akănthophắgos)
• ἀκανθοφόρος (akanthophóros)
• λευκάκανθα (leukákantha)
• ὀξυάκανθα (oxuákantha)
• πυξάκανθα (puxákantha)
• τραγάκανθα (tragákantha)

Descendants

• → Greek: άκανθα (ákantha)
• → Arabic: أَقَنْثَا (ʔaqanṯā)
• → New Latin: acantha
  • → English: acantha

Further reading

• “ἄκανθα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ἄκανθα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ἄκανθα”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• ἄκανθα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• ἄκανθα in Cunliffe, Richard J. (1924) A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect: Expanded Edition, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1963
• ἄκανθα in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
• G173 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• ἄκανθα in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • backbone idem, page 58.
  • brier idem, page 98.
  • fish bone idem, page 323.
  • prickle idem, page 640.
  • spine idem, page 802.
  • thistle idem, page 867.
  • thorn idem, page 867.
• Kramer, Johannes (2010) “10. ἀκακία, ἄκανθα / acacia, acantha”, in Von der Papyrologie zur Romanistik (Archiv für Papyrusforschung und verwandte Gebiete; Beiheft 30), De Gruyter, →DOI, →ISBN, page 154
• ἄκανθα, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011