| 释义 |
acanthus|əˈkænθəs|
[L., a. Gr. ἄκανθος, f. ἄκανθα thorn, f. ἀκή a sharp point.]
1. Bot. A genus of herbaceous plants (monopetalous exogens, family Acanthaceæ). In popular use, the name is chiefly applied to the species A. spinosus, Bear's Breech or Brank-Ursine, native to the shores of the Mediterranean, and cultivated in England, celebrated among the Greeks and Romans for the elegance of its leaves.
1616Surflet & Markham Countrey Farme 203 Beares⁓breech, called of the Latines Acanthus. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 696 On either side Acanthus, and each odorous bushy shrub, Fenced up the verdant wall. 1842Tennyson Lotos-Eaters 142 The emerald-colour'd water falling Thro' many a wov'n acanthus-wreath divine!
2. Arch. A conventionalized representation of the leaf of Acanthus spinosus, used in the decoration of the Corinthian and Composite capitals; said to have been modelled after the plant by Callimachus.
1751Chambers Cycl. s.v., Acanthus, in architecture, an ornament of the Corinthian and Composite orders. 1879Scott Lect. on Archit. I. 81 They assume an almost Classic form—the acanthus being freely used. |