- ἄκανθα
- ἄκανθαGrammatical information: f.Meaning: `thorn, thistle', name of different thorny plants (Strömberg Pflanzennamen 17), also `backbone, spine' of fishes, snake, man (Od.). Note ἄκανθος m. `acanthus' (Acanthus mollis) .Other forms: ἀκανθίας kind of shark; grasshopper (cf. Strömberg Fischnamen 47, Wortstudien 17); ἀκανθίς name of a bird (`goldfinch' or `linnet', cf. Thompson Birds s. v.), also a plant; ἀκανθυλλίς bird-name (Thompson s. v.), ἀκανθίων `hedgehog', ἀκανθέα a plant, ἀκανθηλή meaning unknown.Origin: PG [a word of Pre-Greek origin]X [probably]Etymology: The basic meaning is `thorn', and from there `backbone, spine'. Usually, ἄκανος `pine-thistle' is considered basic, but a connection with ἄνθος is improbable; a compound *ἄκ-ανθα `Stachelblume' (Kretschmer Einleitung 403 A. 1) is a type of etymology of the past. ἄκαν-θα acc. to Solmsen Wortf. 264. Belardi assumes an Indo-Mediterranean substr. word, connecting Skt. kaṇṭ(h)a-, but such combinations with Sanskrit are mostly incorrect, the Indo-Med. hypothesis quite doubtful. Most probable is a (Greek) substr. element, though in this case there is no positive indication except short -α (Beekes, Pre-Greek). There is no reason to assume a secondary Greek formation, as assumed by DELG. - One connects ἀκαλανθίς = ἀκανθίς (Ar.); Niedermann Glotta 19, 8ff. through metathesis of *ἀκανθαλίς.Page in Frisk: 1,50
Greek-English etymological dictionary (Ελληνικά-Αγγλικά ετυμολογική λεξικό). Robert S.P.. 2010.